Into The Darkness
by Kaouri18
Summary: The sequel to The Breaking. Kuri's missing and Tsuzuki and Hisoka are brought into help. But what happens when old and new enemies arrive and things go wrong.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone. This is the sequel to "The Breaking". If you haven't read it, then this story may confuse you. I recommend reading it first. I want to thank everyone who has read "The Breaking" and I hope that you all will like the sequel. Now Let's begin…

Disclaimer: I don't own Yami No Matsuei, no matter how much I wish I did…

Into the Darkness

_A few months after "The Breaking"…_

Chapter 1

'_These last few months have been interesting to say the least…' _Tsuzuki thought as he laid in bed. He looked down at his chest and smiled at his lover snuggled against him. Yes, his lover, Hisoka Kurosaki… Tsuzuki was still amazed that he was together with the boy. To him it was a dream come true, but then again Tsuzuki's dreams normally became nightmares…

'_Not this one._' he thought. '_I'm not going to let that happen. Never_.' Tsuzuki gazed down at Hisoka and gently pulled him closer.

Ever since the incident those few months ago Tsuzuki had been on edge. He kept a careful watch over Hisoka at all times, fear still dwelled within him. There had been the usual cases, a possessed girl, a few souls who needed to move on, but then… there were the other cases. The ones that left one of them crying or in pain. And Tsuzuki didn't even want to think about the demonic squirrel. Yes… Tsuzuki was attacked by a possessed squirrel, it wasn't one of his better days…

Hisoka moaned and shifted in his sleep. Tsuzuki could only smile and Hisoka tried to burrow into Tsuzuki, but that smile soon faded.

There were the nightmares…

Hisoka had always had nightmares, it was to be expected considering his life. But they had been getting worse recently and Tsuzuki wasn't sure what to do. Before Hisoka would at least remember what the dream was. If Tsuzuki knew what the dream was he at least had a chance of knowing how to comfort Hisoka, but lately that hadn't been the case.

Lately Hisoka would awake trembling, but being unable to remember his dream. All he could remember was a man of darkness. This man plagued Hisoka's dream, causing the boy to fear sleep even more than after an encounter with Muraki. This left Tsuzuki feeling helpless. He didn't now how to protect Hisoka from something within his own mind, but what could he do?

Tsuzuki looked back down at the now peacefully sleeping boy. _'What am I going to do with you Hisoka…How can I help you…' _he thought sadly. _'I can't help but have this ominous feeling lately, but I don' understand it…_.'

Tsuzuki looked back down at Hisoka and decided to do something nice for him this morning. '_I can make you some breakfast' _he all of a sudden thought.

Deciding that that was a good plan, Tsuzuki immediately got up, making sure not to disturb Hisoka, to go make some breakfast.

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Hisoka awoke with a start. He was panting heavily as he tried to regain some for his composure. 'Another nightmare…' he thought. Hisoka brought his hand up to his face and realized that his cheeks were wet. He was crying. Hisoka had no idea why he was crying. All he could remember was the man made of shadows.

Hisoka brought his knees to his chest and the tears continued to fall. He felt lost and alone. '_Where is Asato? He was here when I went to sleep, but where is he now…?'_ Hisoka thought sadly.

Hisoka continued to cry. Things had been difficult since the incident those few months ago. Everyone seemed to be watching him, to make sure that he was alright. Didn't they know that all they were doing was driving him insane. He did want to be treated like a child, he could handle things, he could. Well, as long as Tsuzuki was there he could.

But it was times like this that he needed Tsuzuki the most, to chase away to darkness of his mind. Yet, Tsuzuki was missing, and Hisoka felt truly abandoned, even though he knew how illogical that was.

He wiped away the tears and fought to suppress the rest from falling. He wasn't going to sit here and cry, no. Hisoka Kurosaki didn't wallow in self-pity, no matter how tempting it could be. All Hisoka wanted to do was see Tsuzuki, so he got out of bed to search the house.

Hisoka noticed a strange odor as he left the bedroom. Hisoka followed said odor to the kitchen, where he noticed Tsuzuki standing over a pot of whatever was smelling.

Tsuzuki turned upon hearing footsteps.

"Hey! You're awake. I was just making you some breakfast. Did I wake you?" Tsuzuki asked.

Hisoka quietly walked over to Tsuzuki and put his arms around him. Tsuzuki returned the embrace but was confused until he felt a few tears stain his shirt- Hisoka must have had a nightmare.

"I'm so sorry Hisoka. I didn't mean to leave you like that. I just wanted to do something special for you."

"It's alright… just hold me?" Hisoka mumbled into Tsuzuki's shirt.

"Always." Tsuzuki replied tightening his hold.

They stayed that way for a while, neither moving or speaking. After a few minutes Hisoka pulled away and wiped away the last of the tears. It was then that he saw the pot of Emna-knows what burning.

"Uhhh… Asato."

Tsuzuki turned around and saw the smoke. "Oh crap!" he yelled going over to the stove.

"It's ruined after all that hard work I did. I really wanted to make you a great breakfast." Tsuzuki said sadly.

Hisoka sighed in relief. He really loved the older man, but his cooking… Let's just say there are things worse than death and one of them is Tsuzuki's cooking.

"It's alright Asato. You can make breakfast another day. We're running a little late today, so why don't we go by that café that you like so much to pick something up." Hisoka said.

Tsuzuki instantly was happy again and gave Hisoka a big hug. "Awwww… Thank you!!!!" he said happily.

"Alright, now we better get ready for work." Hisoka said.

At that moment the phone rang. Tsuzuki ran over and picked it up. It was Tatsumi.

"Hello?" Tatsumi asked.

"Hello Tatsumi." Tsuzuki replied.

"Tsuzuki. I need you and Hisoka to come to my office immediately."

"But can't we at least get dressed" Tsuzuki replied teasingly.

Tsuzuki could almost hear the blush in Tatsumi's voice. "Of course! Get here soon and come to my office right away."

"Alright, we'll be right there. Bye." Tsuzuki replied and hung up.

"Tatsumi?" Hisoka asked.

"Yes and he wants us to be in his office really soon."

"I wonder why."

"Me too. Me too."

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Hisoka and Tsuzuki teleported straight into Tatsumi's office. Tatsumi was currently sitting at his desk dong paper work.

"Tatsumi you wanted to see us." Tsuzuki said.

Tatsumi looked up from what he was doing. "Yes. I just didn't expect you two to be here so quickly."

"What was it you wanted to see us about Tatsumi? You sounded anxious on the phone." Tsuzuki asked.

Tatsumi sighed. "I take it you two remember Kuri." he said after a moment.

How could anyone forget her? She was such a major part in the incident those few months ago. But what was Tatsumi saying…

"Of course we remember her, why?" Tsuzuki asked. All of a sudden he had a bad feeling in his chest.

"I just received a phone call from her partner Ryu this morning." Tatsumi said.

"Well… what did he say?" Hisoka asked.

"Kuri's missing."

End Chapter 1

Yea! I finally got the first chapter up. It took forever so sorry for the wait. I'm going to try and update as much as I can. Thanks for reading and please review!


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks for the reviews! I just hope that I can make this story live up to _The Breaking_.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yami No Matsuei, no matter how much I wish I did….

-Chapter 2-

"Kuri's missing." Tatsumi said.

"What!" Tsuzuki yelled. "How… When… What?"

"Calm down Asato, I think Tatsumi is going to explain all of that to us." Hisoka said, trying to remain calm.

Tatsumi cleared his throat, and silently thanked Hisoka before continuing. "To be honest Ryu didn't give me that many details. He said he would fill you in if you came."

"Of course we'll go. Right Hisoka?" Tsuzuki said.

Hisoka nodded in agreement. He still wasn't sure what to think of Kuri, even after all this time. She had come out of nowhere willing to help Tsuzuki with a case that almost killed her. He couldn't believe her to be an enemy of any kind-that wasn't his fear. He just couldn't shake this bad feeling upon hearing tat she's missing.

"Alright then. He gave me his address for you two to teleport to." Tatsumi said.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just go to the main office in… hey what department are they in anyway?" Hisoka asked.

"Sapporo. That's their district, so they tend to say in the northern areas. As for the apartment, Ryu didn't say. All he said was that Kuri was missing and that he wanted to know if we would help him. I can't leave so I called you two as soon as I got off the phone with him." Tatsumi replied.

"So you want us to leave right now?" Tsuzuki asked.

"That would be best I suppose. I'm giving you both temporary leave for this. You'll still be paid because you are actually working. I'm trusting you two to help bring her back. And do get her back you two." Tatsumi said.

"We will." Tsuzuki said taking the card while grabbing onto Hisoka's hand. "You ready?"

Hisoka nodded and they we gone.

Tatsumi sat back for a moment after they left. Something wasn't right, he knew that. Kuri wasn't the type to go missing, especially if someone like Ryu is there to watch her. No there was more to this than he knew. _'I wonder what happened… What's happening now… Something is very wrong about all of this . All I can say for sure is that they better watch themselves.'_

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-Ryu and Kuri's apartment-

Ryu was sitting on the couch in the living room, when two specific people appeared in front of him.

"Tsuzuki, Hisoka, it's been a while." Ryu said, standing up to walk over a greet them.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka hadn't seen Ryu in a while, but they could defiantly tell something was wrong. He has dark circles under his normaly intense blue-green eyes, which meant that he wasn't sleeping much. His movements are sluggish and it seems as if he's limping on his left side, just a little. His clothing was disheveled, along with his dark-brown hair. Over all it was a sad sight.

"Ryu. How have you been?" Tsuzuki asked, although he already knew the answer.

"I've been better. Thanks for coming." he said.

Now they knew the seriousness of the situation. Ryu was acting nice and polite. Granted the guy isn't mean or anything, but he's defiantly not acting like his usual sarcastic self.

"Ryu, tell us what happened." Tsuzuki said.

"You may want to sit down, it's complicated." Ryu said, going and sitting in a chair, so that Hisoka and Tsuzuki could use the couch.

"What happened Ryu?" Tsuzuki asked once they were seated.

Ryu sighed, it actually looked as if he would cry, but he didn't. "It happened about a week ago. Kuri didn't come home that night. I had left the office early, and was waiting for her, but she never came. I thought she was having one of those times…" Ryu trailed off.

"What do you mean, one of those times?" Hisoka asked.

"Every once in a while Kuri will disappear, for various reasons I suppose. Sometimes it's to think or just be alone, other times it's out of some desire to be someone more than she is. I don't really understand it myself, but that's what she always tells me. She can be gone anywhere from a few hours to about a weekend; it was a Friday so I didn't really worry too much until Monday came. I was worried and asked around at work, to see if anyone had seen her. The last time she was seen was last Friday, holding a file before teleporting." Ryu said.

"It's been a whole week! Why didn't you call sooner?" Tsuzuki said.

"Everyone has been looking for her for this past week. The problem is that it's really busy around here right now, so my co-workers needed to get back to their own jobs, that's when I decided to call you." Ryu replied. "Besides you have a connection with Kuri that may be able to help." Ryu said to Hisoka.

"What are you talking about?" Hisoka asked, very confused.

"Kuri went into your mind correct?"

Hisoka nodded.

"Well then, you now have some kind of mental link with her. I have one as well but it's different than yours. It'll come in handy if we get near her. You should be able to sense her presence easier than with your empathy alone."

Hisoka thought about for a moment. It seemed to make sense but then again he had never felt this link before, shouldn't he normally be able to feel it. That was a question for another time, since Ryu was talking, to himself it seemed…

"Damn it, why? Why didn't you tell me? Why? You knew didn't you, you knew… then why?…" Ryu mumbled.

"Ryu what are you talking about?" Tsuzuki quietly asked.

Ryu looked up at Tsuzuki. His eyes were full of fear at being found out. He wasn't sure what to say, how to answer Tsuzuki. He decided the truth would be the best.

"There's one ability that Kuri didn't tell you she had, considering it's beyond her control…"

"What is it?" Hisoka asked.

"She can see the future." Ryu replied.

There was a silence…

"She can see the future… But how?" Tsuzuki asked breaking the silence.

Ryu sighed. "It's not something she can control, but yes, she sometimes has visions of the future. Sometimes they are coherent and she is able to understand what she's seeing, other times it's a mess of images, and she isn't able to understand what she saw. They can happen at anytime and be about anything. Do you remember what she said before we left?"

"_I'll be seeing you soon _- that's what she said. And she wanted to make sure that we would come help if need be. You don't think…" Tsuzuki trailed off.

"Yes, I do. I think that she knew this was going to happen. I asked her about it when we got home and all she said was that I shouldn't worry and that it was going to happen. I think she knew that this was going to happen, but I still don't know why she didn't stop it from happening."

"None of us know Ryu. All we can do is look for her and get her back alright?" Tsuzuki said.

"Thank you both. I'm not sure what to say…" Ryu said.

"Don't worry about it. Now any idea on where to start the search?" Tsuzuki said.

"Actually…I think I know someone who might be willing to help." Ryu said.

"Who?" Tsuzuki and Hisoka both asked.

"Well…You'll see…" Ryu replied. "You two ready to go then?"

Tsuzuki and Hisoka both nodded. Ryu walked over and placed one hand on each of their shoulders'. It was time to visit an old friend…

-End Chapter 2-

Yes! Another chapter done! Thanks for reading. Yes Kuri's a strange one but there's more to her whole future power thing… As for the friend you'll have to wait and see…. Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3-

"Alright, I'll ask. Where the hell are we Ryu?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Actually we're pretty close to hell, but not quite." Ryu replied.

Currently Tsuzuki, Hisoka, and Ryu were walking through a bunch of old abandoned warehouses, on a rather bad side of town. The buildings are falling apart and the place reeked of garbage. Not a very pleasant place.

"Ryu, remind us why we're here." Hisoka said.

"I already told you… There's someone here who may be willing to help us. I didn't want to come here alone for obvious reasons." Ryu replied, gesturing to their surroundings.

"Then why didn't you bring any of your co-workers?" Tsuzuki asked.

"They can't know about this place…" was Ryu's vague reply.

That wasn't the answer Tsuzuki or Hisoka was looking for.

"Why not?" Hisoka asked.

"You'll see soon enough." Ryu replied, walking further ahead.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka looked at each other. Something wasn't right about this place and now they weren't sure what to do. It didn't take a genius to know that Ryu was hiding something big. The question is what to do now…

"I understand your apprehension about this but I need you to trust me. Believe it or not but I do know what I'm doing." Ryu said.

"I would like to but I'd also like to know who we will be meeting." Hisoka said.

Ryu stopped walking and turned around. " I must ask you to promise that you will not say anything about this place or the person you are going to meet. If you swear it, then I will tell you." Ryu said.

Tsuzuki thought about it for a moment before replying "I swear."

Hisoka was still unsure but decided to go with Tsuzuki on this one. "I swear as well."

Ryu let out a breath that he had apparently been holding. "Thank you." he said.

"So who are we going to meet?" Hisoka asked.

"His name is Damien. I've known him for a long time. We should keep moving." Ryu said as he began to walk.

Hisoka and Tsuzuki followed Ryu into one of the warehouses. Upon entering they noticed a woman sitting upon one of the crates. Her head was down so they could see her that well at first.

"Who are you? What is your business here?" the woman asked looking up at them with black eyes.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka were a little unnerved about the situation, but Ryu approached her and said "My name is Ryu. I assume your master is expecting me."

"Oh! You're Ryu-san. Yes, my master is expecting you. But who is with you?" she asked standing up.

The woman was dressed in white, with long, curly blonde hair. She was around Hisoka's height. To anyone else she would seem fairly normal except that her skin is a little too white and her eyes are black.

"They're associates of mine. They won't cause any trouble." Ryu replied for Tsuzuki and Hisoka.

"Very well follow me." she said before walking over to a crate. She touched something on the crate and it moved to the side, revealing a set of stairs. She began to descend down the stairs, but stopped when she realized that they were not following her. "Please follow me" she said before continuing down.

Needless to say this was all a little too strange for Tsuzuki and Hisoka.

"Just who the hell is this Damian?" Hisoka finally asked.

Ryu was about to descend the stairs when he stopped at Hisoka's question. "Tell me, do you believe in vampires?"

'_What kind of question is that!' _Hisoka thought before answering "After all the thing that I've seen, I'm honestly not sure."

Ryu smiled "What if I told you they were real?"

"That can't be. We would have been given a report on it. The last vampire case was before I even became a guardian. There's just no way." Tsuzuki said.

"They're very real. They've just gotten better at hiding their trails." Ryu said.

"Wait. Let me get this straight. Are you saying Damian is a vampire?" Hisoka asked.

"Yes, and one of the most powerful ones around." Ryu replied.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka were shocked. It didn't seem right, didn't seem possible. Vampires… They were something fictional, right? At least now they are. Right?

By the time Tsuzuki and Hisoka had recovered from their initial shock Ryu was gone.

"Asato, I'm not sure about this." Hisoka said, looking down the dark staircase.

"We don't have much of a choice. We have no idea where we are. Also there's a barrier around this place, so teleporting is out of the question. Besides, we're here to get information so that we can find Kuri, and that's what we're going to do." Tsuzuki said with conviction.

With that said, they headed down the staircase to try and catch up with Ryu and the woman.

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A door…

That was where Tsuzuki, Ryu and Hisoka were currently, were standing outside a door. The door was rather old and definitely handcrafted. It was made of a dark oak and had rather intricate carvings on it. These carvings depicted a battle. There were soldiers riding on horse back fighting an enemy that seemed to be appearing out of the ground. Which battle it was… They had no idea.

"Are you ready to go in?" The woman asked.

Ryu turned to look at Tsuzuki and Hisoka, who seemed to be mesmerized by the door. He turned back to the woman and said "I suppose so."

Tsuzuki and Hisoka were at a loss for words as the door opened. Before them was what seemed to be a large living room. The place was huge. The walls were lined with tall bookcases that housed thousands of books. The floor was covered with expensive looking oriental rugs, while dark leather furniture was shattered about haphazardly. The was even a fireplace to the left. The odd thing was that there were multiple doors around the edges of the room. Overall it was quite a sight.

"Please have a seat. I will tell my master that you have arrived." the woman said, as she left though one of the doors.

Tsuzuki was still staring in awe at this place, while Hisoka seemed to be puzzled.

"What is it?" Ryu asked Hisoka.

"Are you serious that this guy is a vampire?"

"Yes, and when you meet him you'll see for yourself. Speak of the devil…." Ryu trailed off.

A man emerged from the same door that the woman had left though. He was wearing nothing except for a pair of black, tight jeans. He had a well-toned chest. His skin was honey colored, which seemed to completely contrast the woman's white skin. His hair was black and bit on the short side, and yet seemed to be messy and neat at the same time. His face resembled a statue, on that was sculpted by whatever gods they may be. But what truly stood out was his piercing blue eyes, which seemed to penetrate into your very soul. His movements were catlike as he approached the group.

He stopped before then, looking at Ryu. "Ryu… It's been a while.. How have you been?"

"I've been better." Ryu replied.

"Oh. I see you've brought guests to my home. Hello my name is Damian." he said to Tsuzuki and Hisoka.

Hisoka now knew what Ryu meant y he would know when he met him. Damian's entire being was dark, not necessarily evil in his emotions or intent, just his being. There was this strange energy that seemed to ooze out of him. And there was power, a power that truly confused Hisoka. Damian may appear to be human but he wasn't and Hisoka knew that now. There was no doubt in Hisoka's mind- Damian is a vampire.

"My name is Asato Tsuzuki and this is my partner Hisoka Kurosaki." Tsuzuki said.

"Ahhh. You are the two that Ryu and Kuri went to help. Speaking of her, where is your darling partner Ryu?" Damian said.

"She's missing and that's why we're here." Ryu said.

"Ryu are you sure she's not just off having one of her times…" Damian said.

"She's been gone for a week." Ryu replied.

There was a silence. Something about Damian changed, he seemed to become darker.

"I'll be back. There's something I must see to." Damien said as he left the room.

"Okay… You lost me." Tsuzuki said once Damian was gone.

"Why don't we have a seat, while we wait for him to come back." Hisoka suggested.

So they all sat in silence, gazing around at the room, until Hisoka spoke up.

"How exactly do you know him? I realize that I'm still new to this but vampires definitely go against what we do. So how is it that he's still here and you haven't said anything to anyone."

Ryu looked thoughtful, as if he was debating something. Finally he spoke. "About twenty-seven years ago there was a case I was still fairly new to the job, while my partner had been around for thirty years or so. Anyway, we were sent to take out a demon, a very powerful one…" Ryu trailed off.

"What happened?" Hisoka asked.

"Oh… right. The demon was way too powerful, but we found that out a little too late. My partner was killed, he sacrificed himself to try and kill the demon. He failed. I fought for as long as I could before I too was one the brink of second death. For some reason that bastard left me for dead. That's when I met Damian. He saved me that day."

"But how did he save you? I don't understand." Hisoka said.

"Damian saved my life in exchange for hiding him from the ministry. That was the time when all the guardians were still looking for vampires. The hoped to destroy them all, but of course some got away."

"I still don't see how he saved you."

"Well…" Ryu started.

The door on the left was flung open as Damian reentered to room.

"Sorry about that, there was something that needed my tending. Am I interrupting something?" Damian asked.

"Not really." Hisoka replied, a little pissed that he didn't get a straight answer out of Ryu.

"Good. In that case I suppose I'll have Natsumi show you to your three rooms."

"Wait, what's this about rooms?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Since I need some time to find out any information on Kuri's location, it only seems logical for you all to stay here." Damian said.

It _seemed_ logical enough, but there had to be more to it than that. Damian didn't trust Tsuzuki and Hisoka just yet, and he wasn't about to let either of them leave. "So is that alright?" Damian said cheerfully.

"That's fine, except that two rooms would be better." Ryu said.

Damian looked confused for a moment before understanding. "Oh! Not a problem. Natsumi!" Damian yelled.

The woman from before appeared. "Yes master."

"Will you show our guests to their rooms." Damian said.

"Of course. Please follow me." Natsumi replied as she started towards one of the doors.

"And Ryu I'll need to speak with you shortly." Damian said, as if it was an after thought.

"Alright." Ryu replied and Tsuzuki, Hisoka and himself left; leaving Damian alone.

'_An empath, a summoner, and Ryu. This is going to be interesting. I wonder if those two know about Ryu and Kuri. I suppose I'll find out soon enough. I better get back to work. I'm starved though. I suppose a small snack wouldn't hurt, after all I'll be talking with all of them shortly._' Damian thought. _'This is going to be interesting…_'

-End Chapter 3-

This chapter didn't really get anywhere, but now you got to meet Damian. He's of my own creation- I have a thing for vampires. There are a lot of questions left unanswered and I hope that I can cover them all. The next chapter should help clear things up too.Also there will be some TsuHis in the next chapter, so don't give up on that. Their role in all of this will become clearer in the future. Please review! And thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

I still don't own Yami No Matsuei, No matter how much I wish I did...

-Chapter 4-

"And this is your room..." Natsumi said to Tsuzuki and Hisoka.

She turned the doorknob to reveal a grand room. It was rather large with a four-post king sized bed. The sheets were dark red to contrast the cream colored walls. There weren't any windows, since the place in underground, but there were a huge amount of paintings that covered the walls. There was a sitting area near the farthest wall, with a fireplace. The room was cozy and not cluttered at all. But, the thing that stood out the most was the built in hot-tub that was in the floor. Around it was stones and a small waterfall, which ran into it. Next to the hot-tub was a door that most likely was connected to the shower. Needless to say Tsuzuki was having some interesting thoughts...

"Don't even think about it Asato" Hisoka said.

"But Soka' you know I can't control my thoughts and/or fantasies. And it's not like you mind." Tsuzuki replied.

"Baka..."

"Well, I'll leave you to get settled in, if you need anything just ask and it will be provided." Natsumi said before leaving.

Both of them entered the room. As soon as Tsuzuki closed the door he grabbed hold of Hisoka and kissed him. Tsuzuki quickly deepened the kiss. The blonde moaned into the kiss, before he got his wits back and pushed Tsuzuki away.

"Asato not now!"

"Why not now?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Because we need to figure out what's going on. I say that we go and listen to Ryu and Damian's conversation."

"But that's eavesdropping." Tsuzuki said, trying to sound shocked.

"It's not like you don't eavesdrop when I'm in the shower..."

"Alright! Let's get going. Do you know where Ryu is?" Tsuzuki interrupted.

"Yes. I can sense him; he's heading down the hallway as we speak."

"Alright. We'll go and listen, then we come back and I get to have my fun." Tsuzuki said with a seductive smirk.

"Pervert."

"But I'm your pervert."

"That's not helping."

"Come on Hisoka..."

"No, let's go."

With that said, they slipped out their room to follow Ryu. They stopped before going around a corner because there was Ryu. He entered the room but didn't shut the door completely, which was good for them.

"Come on." Hisoka said.

They quickly took their place next to the door, peeking in just a little.

"Please have a seat." Damian said as he gestured to the leather seat in front of him

"So what did you want to see me about?" Ryu asked.

"How are you really Ryu?" Damian asked.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not. I can see that. Is it your time of the month?"

"You make it sound like I'm a woman about to have her period."

"Seriously Ryu it's almost that time again. Do you need someone?"

"No. I won't be needing anyone."

"Ryu you need to think logically about this. I'm not sure what will happen to you if you don't do it soon. There are plenty of women here who would be willing to…"

"NO! I'll only take Kuri and that's it!" Ryu shouted.

"You can't be serious! Do you know what could happen to you!?!"

"Of course! That's why you need to help us find her!"

Damian sighed. "Please reconsider Ryu. I must insist."

"You know me better than that Damian. I can't."

"Fine, since there's no convincing you other wise, I might as well save my breath. So do you have any idea where she went?"

"No clue. All I was able to find out was that she was last seen holding a folder in the office before teleporting out." Ryu said sadly.

"That's it. Crap, you're not giving me much to work with."

"I know that, but you need to help me. I can't even feel my link with her."

"Are you serious?" Damian asked shocked.

"Yes, or else I wouldn't have to come to you looking for information about where she is, now would I?"

Damian was quiet for a moment. _'Damn it! That's not a good sign. Their link is practically a blood-bind, to be able to disrupt that… And at this time too…Damn it all.'_ he thought.

"You better get back to your room and get some sleep Ryu, you need it."

"Alright." Ryu replied standing up.

For a moment Tsuzuki and Hisoka panicked. Where they about to be found out that they were listening to the whole thing? He was coming their way, and there wasn't any place to hide.

"Ryu your room is out the other door." Damian said, pointing to door on the opposite side of the room.

"Oh, of course. Goodnight." and with that Ryu left.

"You two can come in now." Damian said.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka froze. How did he know they were there? Well, might as well go in.

Tsuzuki and Hisoka entered the room. It was similar to the main room, but was smaller. It had a cozy feel to the place. There were still lots of books, apparently Damian likes book.

"Have a seat. Now how much did you hear?" Damian said.

"All of it. And I must say trying to force Ryu on another girl is wrong. You're his friend and Kuri's I thought, how can you do something like that" Hisoka said.

"Oh, you thought… No, no, no. That's not it at all." Damian replied.

"Then what's going on?" Hisoka asked.

"How much do you know about Ryu and Kuri?" Damian asked, sitting back in his leather chair.

"I know about Kuri's past, at least a little. But I don't know anything about Ryu." Tsuzuki said.

"I thought so. I guess that that means that I shouldn't tell you. Ryu would probably kill me if I did."

"Great, so you're not going to clear this up at all for us." Tsuzuki said.

"No I'm not. I don't trust you enough yet. Ryu might, but it's a bit harder to earn my trust, vampire habits you know?"

"That's something I wanted to ask you about. I didn't realize that there are vampires still around." Tsuzuki said.

"Of course you wouldn't know. It's hard to find something that's almost impossible to see. I mean look at me. Do I scream vampire to you?" Damian asked.

"No and that's what confuses me." Tsuzuki said.

"Let me guess you were expecting some white guy in a cape with red eyes. One who is afraid of sunlight and hates garlic. Am I right?"

Hisoka and Tsuzuki both nodded their heads.

"Typical. For your information I enjoy the sunlight, I just have to wear sunglasses because my eyes are sensitive. And I don't know any vampires that run around with capes on. Most of us blend right into society. Some of the most powerful and influential people around are vampires, and you would never be able to tell the difference."

"How many of you are left? And how could you survive without being noticed by the guardians?" Hisoka asked.

"There are more of us around than you think. The only thing is that we can't kill anyone. That would draw too much attention to ourselves. And as I said before, the more influential vampires have other ways of getting their blood."

"So you don't kill?" Tsuzuki asked.

"No. At least I haven't in a long time, before I meet Ryu." Damian replied.

"How long have you been around?" Hisoka asked.

"Oh… four hundred years or so. Most of my kind is dead by that point. The longer a vampire lives, the better the chance they have of being driven to insanity. There are only a few ways to kill a vampire. Guardians can of course. Most vampires are driven insane and commit suicide. Also all vampires watch each other. If one was to go insane and make too much commotion, the rest of us could be put in danger. Thankfully that incident in Nagasaki a while back was just a fake." Damian said.

"Wait! Nagasaki, do you remember who was involved?" Hisoka asked.

"Yea. Some bastard named Kazutaka Muraki. The bastard had us worried sick. He's even been up here recently doing god knows what. If it was my choice he would be dead by now, unfortunately he has connections and I wasn't allowed to kill him. Wait. Are you the two guardians that were involved in that case?"

"Actually we are. It was my first case." Hisoka said.

"Ahhh. You sure got a difficult case for it only being your first one." Damian said.

"Yes it was…" Hisoka replied.

"So when did you two get together?" Damian asked, being rather blunt.

"Ummm…" Hisoka trailed off.

"A few months ago, right before the incident that Kuri helped us with." Tsuzuki said quickly. "Do you have a problem with that?" taking hold of Hisoka's hand.

"Obviously not since I'm having you two stay in the same room. I'm old but not old fashion. The most important thing is for people who truly love each other to be together, that's all. Male or female, it doesn't matter. So you don't have to worry about that. Now about when you two got together that makes sense. And Let me guess Kuri confused the hell out of you?" Damian asked, changing to subject.

"Yes, actually she did." Tsuzuki replied.

"Don't worry that's normal, I still get confused by her." Damian replied.

"Speaking of Kuri, what do you know about her disappearing? And don't say nothing, I know that you know something. My question is why didn't you tell Ryu?" Hisoka said to Damian.

"Perceptive aren't you. I was hoping that no one would notice." Damian replied.

"Well I did. So spill it."

"There are only a few people that have the power to cut off a link as strong as the one Ryu and Kuri share. Considering her past I can only assume that it's one person..." Damian trailed off.

"And who's that?" Hisoka asked.

"My leader of my clan Kiyoshi Tokudaiji..."

-End Chapter 4-

So any guesses on what's up with Ryu?

Anyway, Thank you for reading. I'm sorry to say but I'm not sure how often I'm going to be able to update. I have exams coming up along with some trips, but I promise to do my best. Please review! Please let me know if you like where this is going.


	5. Chapter 5

-Chapter 5-

"Kiyoshi Tokudaiji…" Hisoka mumbled.

"Yes. He's the current leader of our line, and is the man who killed Kuri's first love." Damian said sadly.

"WHAT!!!!!" Tsuzuki and Hisoka cried in unison. "That's the same guy!"

"Yes, and that's why I didn't want to tell Ryu." Damian said.

"Wait, Why exactly don't you want to tell Ryu?" Hisoka asked.

"Because he'll try to find him. Show up and get himself killed. Kiyoshi isn't one to be trifled with." Damian replied.

"He's that powerful?" Tsuzuki asked a little nervous.

"Let me put it this way- Tsuzuki you're the most powerful guardian of death correct?"

"Yes…" Tsuzuki replied.

"Take your power and multiply it by fifty and then you have Kiyoshi, not to mention all the other vampires working under him." Damian said.

"Are you serious? How the hell are we going to be able to face a guy who's that powerful?" Hisoka asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. I'll need a few hours to gather some information on what's going on. Apparently Kiyoshi's men have been very active in the past few weeks. There have been kidnappings, murders, and all kind s of other crimes being committed. But then again it's approaching that time…" Damian trailed off. '_Crap I said too much_.' he thought.

"What's approaching?" Hisoka asked, curious as to what Damian was going to say.

"Arg… You really aren't suppose to know but… I guess I don't really have a choice now. Every three hundred years, a leader is chosen. This leader is supposedly in control of all the vampires. Each line has it's own leader but this leader rules over all the different lines. The leader is determined by their ability in battle and how many followers they have. You saw my door correct?" Damian asked.

"Yes." Tsuzuki and Hisoka replied.

"That's a scene from the last battle. Not many people remember what happened back then, since many were killed in the battle, I was wounded. The battle was bloody, supposedly the bloodiest one ever. It was huge and raged on for days. In the end it wasn't Kiyoshi who won. Kiyoshi came is second and has been sore about it ever since. This time he wants to come out on top, and will stop at nothing to do so." Damian told them.

"But what does this have to do with Kuri?" Tsuzuki asked.

"That's where I'm as confused as you. I have no idea how she could be connected to all of this, but obvioudly we can't rule out the coincidental timing. Now then, I believe that's enough for one night. I have some work to do. If you need anything Natsumi is available or one of the other girls. But for now I must bid you goodnight." Damian said, standing up to leave.

"Wait!" Hisoka yelled, causing Damian to stop at the door.

"You still haven't told us about Ryu." Hisoka said.

"I know, but that's for another time." Damian said as he closed the door, leaving Hisoka and Tsuzuki alone.

"Well... That was interesting..." Tsuzuki said.

"Let's go." Hisoka replied, going back to their room.

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"You didn't tell them master?" Natsumi asked as she entered Damian's room.

"No, of course not. I'm not going to tell them everything on the first night." Damian replied, sitting down at his computer.

"Well then, do you need asistance with your work this evening?"

"No, but I am hungry..."

"Of course matser..."

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-Hisoka and Tsuzuki's room-

"Arg!!!! That Damian left me with a thousand questions! Damn him!" Hisoka cursed, as he sat down on the bed.

"Don't worry about it so much Soka', I'm sure we'll find out everything eventually." Tsuzuki replied, sitting down next to his lover.

"But none of this makes sense! Vampires, battles for leader, and then Ryu, what the heck is going on here!?!"

Tsuzuki looked thoughtful for a moment then replied "Let's think this whole Ryu thing through... All guardians are partnered with people who will help to balance them right? Like you and me, so it must be the same for Ryu and Kuri. Therefore with Kuri not having any physical strength, Ryu would have to have mostly physical strength."

"But that won't work either. In the story that Damian told us, Ryu didn't seem that strong at all, so what happened?" Hisoka asked, trying to piece this together.

"Damian saved his life is what happened, but could that mean..." Tsuzuki trailed off.

"There's no way Asato. I would know if Ryu was a vampire, I would be able to sense it remember? Besides have you ever seen him drink anyone's blodd before? I haven't and I don't think you have either, so that's out of the question."

"That's true. Well.. I propose that we just drop it for the night. There's no point, since we won't know the truth until we're told. Besides... wasn;t part of the deal that I get to have my fun when we got back..." Tsuzuki said, kissing his lover's neck.

"Asato not now... I..." but Hisoka was cut off as Tsuzuki kissed him on the lips.

Tsuzuki smirked into the kiss. Finally, something was going right. he quickly deepened the kiss, as he pushed Hisoka back onto the bed. Tsuzuki's hands were everywhere at once, touching every place they could reach. Soon Tsuzuki's mouth began to follow their path and left only a wet trail in it's wake.

"Asato..." came the hoarse name and Tsuzuki found that particulary sensitive spot on Hisoka's neck.

Tsuzuki sat up for a moment to remove his shirt and Hisoka's before he latched on to a nipple. Hisoka moaned in reponse as Tsuzuki began to suckle and gently bite his nipples. Hisoka moaned and squirmed under Tsuzuki, but Tsuzuki was far from done. Tsuzuki trailed his mouth downward, and paused at Hisoka's belly button. He did a few quick licks, while removing Hisoka's pants and silky boxers.

Hisoka cried out as Tsuzuki made the first lick to his manhood. No matter how many times they made love, he couldn't get use to the feelings, the touches. It had only been a few months, so everything was still fairly new to him. He sucked in a breath as Tsuzuki took all of him into his mouth. Hisoka's head thrashed from side to side, the pleasure almost unbearable as he came in his lover's mouth.

Tsuzuki took his time to make sure that he licked every last drop of his lover's esense. He came up and gave Hisoka a chastise kiss to his sweaty forehead.

"You alright?" He asked.

Hisoka was still panting. To be honest he was tired by everything that had happened that day, and this took the last of his energy. "I'm fine. Just tired..."

'Alright, we'll get some sleep then and have a go tomorrow." Tsuzuki said picking up Hisoka and putting him under the covers.

"Is that all you think about you dirty old man."

"No. It's just one of my favorite things to think about during times like these. But we're both tired and do need to get some sleep. Who knows what could happen tomorrow." Tsuzuki replied, getting under the covers with Hisoka.

Hisoka snuggled up against Tsuzuki. His head lay against Tsuzuki's chest as a warm pair of arms embraced him, and held him close. Hisoka sighed in contentment.

"I love you." Tsuzuki said into Hisoka's hair.

"I love you too." Hisoka replied, falling almost instantly asleep.

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The moon outside is getting close to being full...

"Damn it!" Ryu cursed as he stood outside the warehouse looking up at the moon. It was almost time, and he knew things were going to get worse.

"Kuri, I need you now. Enma knows what I may end up doing..." Ryu said shaking his head and heading inside.

He didn't notice the man in the shadows watching him as he headed back inside. No he didn't see the man of darkness and the man of white smiling in the night. No he din't see, but he would soon know.

-End Chapter 5-

I know there are a lot of questions left still. Still don't know what Ryu is? You see soon enough, but any guessses? Anyway Thanks for reading. I hope to be able to update soon! I'm trying really hard to. Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Yami No Matsuei no matter how much I wish I did...

I'd like to thank everyone who has been reading this story as well as those who have read **The Breaking. **Thank you all so much!

-Chapter 6-

There was a knock at the door.

"Arg…" Tsuzuki grumbled, tightening his hold on Hisoka. Maybe if he ignored it, the person would go away.

Knock-knock.

"Damn…" Tsuzuki mumbled as he carefully got out of bed. He didn't want to wake Hisoka up; he knew the boy was tired from yesterday. But damn it was early; at least he still had pants on.

"Yes?" he said, as he opened the door. It was Natsumi.

"The master needs to see you as soon as possible." she said.

"Ummm… could you give us a half-an-hour?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Yes, That'll be fine. Please be in the main room in half-an-hour." Natsumi replied.

"Great. Good-bye." Tsuzuki said, closing the door.

"who was it?" Hisoka asked, sitting up sleepily on the bed.

Tsuzuki couldn't help but smile at the sight. Hisoka was wiping tiredly at his eyes. He was all disheveled, with his hair all messy. He reminded Tsuzuki of a cat, more like a kitten, just waking up.

"Natsumi. We're suppose to be in the main room in half-an-hour." Tsuzuki said, sitting down on the bed. He leaned over and gave Hisoka a soft kiss to his forehead.

"I guess we should get ready." Hisoka said, moving to stand up.

"But we have plenty of time and still haven't used the tub." Tsuzuki said hopefully.

"We don't have time this morning Asato."

"But Hisoka…." Tsuzuki whined, but the look Hisoka gave him left no room for discussion.

"Alright then, what about later?" Tsuzuki asked.

Hisoka sighed before replying "We'll see."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Glad to see you all up." Damian said, as Ryu, Hisoka and Tsuzuki entered. Of course he was lounging in his favorite leather chair near the fireplace, which was lit.

"Thanks to you. So, what did you want to see us about?" Hisoka asked.

"I've been able to get some information on Kuri." Damian said.

"And, what is it?" Hisoka asked.

"According to my sources, Kuri was last seen four days ago, at a bakery apparently. She was supposedly alone, but didn't seem to be herself. That was the only time she was seen. And it's been confirmed that Kuri is with Kiyoshi." Damian said.

"But how do you know she's with Kiyoshi if no one was with her?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I know a few of his vampire followers, they can be easy to persuade if you make the right offer, but that's beside the point. The point is that we now know where she is." Damian said.

"So what do we do now?" Tsuzuki asked.

"We go and get her back from Kiyoshi, that's what." Ryu said.

"You know we can't do that Ryu. It's suicide, think about what you're saying. We can't do any good dead, we need to be cautious about this." Damian said.

"so what are we suppose to do Damian?" Ryu said, bitterly.

"Alright, just hear me out. Kiyoshi is the leader of my clan. During the last battle he lost for control of all vampires, but won being the leader of my clan. He defeated his two siblings and took control. If we can get his siblings to help us, then we may stand a chance." Damian said.

"And why would they be willing to help us?" Ryu asked.

"I was changed by the sister, so I can almost guarantee that she would help us. That is if she doesn't kill you all first. If we can convince her, then she'd be able to help us with her brother." Damian replied.

"Are you sure about this?" Ryu asked.

"not really. She may kill us all, or she'll help us." Damian replied.

"Another person willing to kill us, so what else is new." Hisoka said.

"And you can't think of any other way to do this?" Tsuzuki asked, not thrilled about meeting the vampire that changed Damian.

"This is the only way I can think of." Damian replied.

"So are we going?" Hisoka asked.

"I suppose so. Let's get going." Ryu said reluctantly.

Damian stood up and grabbed on to each of them before teleporting to her place. He could only hope that she wouldn't kill them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why do we keep getting drug to places that we have no idea about?" Hisoka asked Tsuzuki.

"I guess it's just our luck." Tsuzuki replied.

"Come on you two." Ryu said.

Currently Hisoka, Tsuzuki, and Ryu were being led by Damian down a hallway, on the top floor of some apartment building.

"Here we are." Damian announced as they came to the last door. He turned to them and said "There are some things you need to know before we enter.1. Watch what you say- you really don't want to piss her off. 2. Don't be intimidated by what she says- she's a vampire and she knows it. 3. Be incredibly respectful unless she tells you other wise. And 4. Don't give her any reason to kill you."

"Such pleasant warnings Damian." Tsuzuki said .

"Hey! I'm being honest. Alright, ready?" Damian asked taking out a key.

"I guess…" Ryu replied.

Damian inserted the key and slowly turned it, unlocking the door. He opened the door and they were greeted by a rather odd sight.

The room was huge, bigger than Damian's main room. It was blue, a royal blue covered the walls. The ceiling was white and accented by paintings of a battle. After talking with Damian they knew it was probably one of the vampire battles. The thing about the ceiling was that it seemed to depict three people fighting- two men and one woman. The detail was incredible, but that didn't compare to the view. Considering that they were on the highest floor of the building, it made sense to have such an incredible view. There were massive windows that took up the entire wall, some lead out to a balcony. The furniture was leather, apparently vampires like leather. It just didn't seem like the lair a vampire.

"You can stop staring at anytime now." Damian said.

Everyone quickly regained their composure.

"So where is this woman?" Ryu asked.

"I guess you really weren't paying attention. One of her men said that she'd be right out and for us to take a seat." Damian replied.

So they all went and sat down, waiting for this woman to appear.

"so… she's the one that changed you?" Tsuzuki said.

"Yes, her name is Nariko Takashi. It was an intersting time...Oh, here she is." Damian said standing up.

Forget them not believing that a vampire lived here; as soon as Nariko stepped into the room, they all knew. She had short, layered, dark brown hair, with a tinge of red in areas. She was a little shorter than Tsuzuki, and was probably about twenty- four, not including how long she had been dead. She was wearing a dark blue tank-top, with a black shirt over top, which hung open. Her pants were dark jeans that seemed to be part of her body. She had on black high-heeled boats, that elongated her legs. But what caught you was her eyes, there were a deep brown- with specks of blue in them. They seemed unnatural, but then again she wasn't natural. Upon seeing that there were multiple people in her home she stopped.

"Well… This is a surprise…" she said walking towards them.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that Nariko, but something just came up." Damian replied.

"I can see that. And who are these people in my home?" Nariko asked.

"This is Ryu Saito, Hisoka Kurosaki, and Asato Tsuzuki. They are friends of mine, and are need of your assistance." Damian replied.

"And why would I help these people? They're guardians of death, I should kill them on the spot. What were you thinking bring them here! They could expose me, and I'd rather not have to kill again." Nariko said angrly.

"If I may speak miss?" Ryu spoke up quietly.

"Yes. Please enlighten me as to why you are all here." Nariko said with some frustration.

"My partner, Kuri Kojo, is missing. I was told that you be able to help me get her back." Ryu said as respectfully as he could.

"I'm not a detective, besides what does that have to do with me? Why me in general?" Nariko said.

"She was kidnapped by your brother." Damian replied.

"So, it's nearing the time of the battle, people go missing all the time. I don't see the meaning behind involving myself in this." Nariko replied hastily.

"Kuri has the ability to do almost anything within a person's mind. She's able to control their thoughts, movements, and feelings. She is a very powerful psychic and can sometimes se into the future." Damian said.

Nariko stopped at that. "Are you serious?" she said quietly.

"Unfortunately yes. I suppose you realize the seriousness of this." Damian said.

"I do, but I'm not sure about these people. I'll need to talk to each of them in private, then I'll make my decision. You realize that there'll be conditions. But I'll consider it, that's all I can agree to at this point." Nariko said.

"All I'm asking for is a chance for us to try and explain this situation." Damian said.

"Very well. I'll see each of you individually in my room Damian you're first." Nariko said, heading back towards the room she entered from. Damian turned and gave one look back before entering.

-End Chapter 6-

Another chapter done... I promise that a lot of the questions will be answered in the next chapter so bear with me.also things will start to pick up... So I hope to be able to update as soon as I can. Thanks for reading and Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Yea! Exams are over and I'm back! I hope to be able to update more frequently now! Thank you all for being patient. So here's a really long chapter!

This chapter is going to focus on each character's interaction with Nariko, followed by her decision and conditions. And you find out about Ryu!

Disclaimer: I don't own Yami No Matsuei, no matter how much I wish I did…

I do own Kuri, Ryu, Damian, and Nariko, also Kiyoshi (unfortunately). They're from the strange world known as my mind. Anyway on with the story…

-Chapter 7-

-**Damian's Turn**-

"So why haven't you been by lately?" Nariko asked, going and sitting on her bed.

"I've been busy." Damian replied, still standing. He took a moment to look around the room. Not much had changed since he had last been here. The furniture was all made of mahogany, with a four poster bed in the center of the room. There was a sliding glass door that lead out to a balcony, and the walls were the same blue as the rest of the house but the ceiling was a mirror. Damian smiled to himself. Contrary to popular belief vampires could see their reflections, but the mirror wasn't there because she liked to look at herself…

"So you kept the mirror." Damian said smuggly.

"Yes I did. I wasn't about to get rid of such a great gift. Especially one that came from you." Nariko replied teasingly.

Yes it was true, Damian had bought her the mirror that now dawned her ceiling.

"So, how do you know them?" Nariko asked, bring him out of his thoughts.

"Ryu is…" Damian started.

"Wait! That's THE RYU! The one that you changed?"

"Only partially remember. And Kuri's blood is able to sustain him when he drinks once a month." Damian replied.

"So you're saying that he can only drink her blood?" Nariko asked confused.

"Yes, unless he wants to change into a full vampire- something about her blood prevents the change from occurring. It's happened over time. I've actually been studying it. It seems that his body has become dependent on her blood, to the point where he refuses anyone else. " Damian said.

"I don't completely understand. I'll have to look into it. So that's why you brought them here? You think that I should help them?"

"Yes, that is the reason why I brought them here." Damian replied.

"Well… you were right to bring them here, but it'll depend on what they tell me. You know you're my favorite fledgling; you can get away with so much more than anyone else. But still why for a kidnapping?"

"With the battle coming up, more and more vampires will be appearing, and I can't help but think that Kuri is involved somehow. You know that there have been many disappearances recently."

"Of course, and then most will be killed in the battle. It happens every time. Arg...I'll need to see how my questionings go. But for now realize that there will be conditions, if I accept that is."

"I understand. Thank you for being willing to consider helping."

"You know I have a soft spot for you. After all, I did change you all those years ago."

"True, but we've grown since then." Damian replied, hinting to a past that neither was ready to face.

"That's all for now Damian." Nariko said after a moment. "Send Ryu in next." she said, dismissing Damian.

Damian could only smile as he left. Of course he knew that Nariko favored him. They were in love when she changed him, and still were. Things were just more complicated now. He wasn't going to dwell on that now, Ryu was next.

"Ryu you're up." Damian said as he exited the bedroom. Damian smiled to himself, as he saw the nervous look on Ryu's face. This was going to be interesting...

Ryu stood up and passed Damian, a little worried. What was he going to tell a vampire goddess?

-**Ryu's Turn**-

"Come on in Ryu. I'm not that scary am I?" Nariko said.

"Not really." Ryu replied, slowly entering her room. He felt very awkward being in another woman's bedroom, especially one that happened to belong to a vampire.

"So your Damian's fledgling." Nariko began.

"If that's what you want to call me then I am, but I'm only a half-vampire."

"Full, half, same thing in my book. It's not something that we normally do; I'm actually intrigued by this information. I'll have to look into it more… anyway… why exactly are you here?" Nariko asked.

"I'm here to ask you if you'd be willing to help me find my partner." Ryu replied confused. Didn't Damian explain this already?

"Yes, but why are you _here_?"

"I'm here because Damian said that you'd be our best bet at actually getting my partner back. He told me to come to you instead of going in myself."

"So you'd be committing suicide right now if you weren't here?"

"No… Yes… I don't know…" Ryu replied.

"How long have you known your partner?" Nariko asked changing the subject.

"I've known her for twenty-five years now." Ryu replied.

"And what exactly is your relationship?"

"I'm not sure that you need to know that." Ryu replied.

"I do. Tell me." Nariko said strictly.

"We've been together for twenty-three years as a couple." Ryu said after a moment.

"So you two married?"

"No we're not married…"

"WHAT!!!" Nariko yelled. "You two have been together for that long and aren't married!"

"Yes… We just never got around to it. Besides we felt like we were married so what's the difference?'

"That's a lame reason. You love her right?" Nariko asked, calming down a little.

"Yes, I do."

"Then that's the difference! Marriage is the ultimate confession of love, or do you still have doubts?"

"I don't doubt Kuri, things are just complicated…"

"Then you must be wondering why she's went after my brother?"

"I know that he's the one who wanted her first love killed; I believe that is sufficient reasoning." Ryu replied. He wasn't sure what the point in all of this was. Nariko just seemed to want to question him.

"Doesn't it make you think that she still hasn't gotten over this boy and that you are just a substitute?" Nariko asked staring Ryu directly in the eyes.

"No. I don't see it that way at all. I see it that she wants to avenge someone's death, and that's all. We do love each other if that's what you're trying to determine. And to be honest whether you decide to help us or not, I'm still going after Kuri. I don't care about anything else." Ryu replied.

"You shouldn't be so rash in your decisions, but I think that's all I need. You may leave and send in Hisoka." Nariko told Ryu abruptly.

"Fine." he replied, a little angry as he left the room.

"Well that went well…" Ryu said as he exited. "Your turn Hisoka."

-**Hisoka's Turn**-

"Well, come on in." Nariko said.

Hisoka slowly entered the room.

"I'm not going to bite, come on." she said, patting the area next to her.

"I'll stand." he replied.

"What is with the standing? Is that all you guys do?" Nariko said to herself. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you why you are here."

"I'm here to help find Kuri." Hisoka replied, bluntly.

"I know that, but WHY? Why do you want to find her? As far as I'm concerned you have nothing to do with this."

"She saved me not too long ago. She came out of no where and saved my life more than once, at the risk of her own life. I feel I should do the same in return." Hisoka replied.

"You're an empath correct?" Nariko asked, changing the subject.

"Yes, I am."

"That's interesting. I haven't met too many empaths during my life. You're rather special."

"If you say so." Hisoka replied, hoping that this would be quick.

"Alright… And you are a guardian of death, a young one at that. How did you end up being guardian?"

"I wanted to find out why I had to die." Hisoka replied.

"Then how did you die?"

"I don't want to say." Hisoka said.

"That's alright I suppose; would you rather discuss your relationship with Tsuzuki?" Nariko said.

'_What's with this woman? She keeps changing the subject and for some reason I want to answer her… It doesn't make sense_.' he thought.

"Is this necessary?" Hisoka asked.

"Yes. I know a lot more than you think, believe me. But I would really like to know why you became a guardian specifically. But talking about your partner will work." Nariko replied.

Hisoka decided to take the lesser of the two evils and talk about his past. "I found out that I was murdered when I first arrived, and at that moment I became a guardian to get revenge. I wanted to know why I had to die and who it was that did it."

"Who the hell would do something like that?"

"The man who killed me is named Kazutaka Muraki. He's been after me and primarily my partner for a while now."

"And what about the curse?" Nariko asked leaning forward.

"How did you know?" Hisoka asked shocked.

"I can sense it. Is that curse Muraki's?"

"Yes... he cursed me. The curse took three years to complete before I died."

"That must have been hell." Nariko said sadly.

"It was. I'd rather not talk about it."

"It's alright… Wait. Is that the same Muraki that was involved in the Nagasaki incident?" Nariko asked.

"Yes it was." Hisoka replied. He felt like he was meeting Damian for the first time again.

"Damn bastard. Now I have another reason to kill him if I ever see him." Nariko said angrily.

"You want to kill him…" Hisoka started confused.

"Yes! He almost exposed us. A few of my fledglings are in Nagasaki and if something happened to them, there would be hell to pay."

"Alright…"

"I'm protective of those I care about." Nariko explained. "Ok then, I think I have come to a decision, you may leave and send in Tsuzuki."

"Ok." Hisoka replied leaving, thankful to be away from the vampire. She was more confusing than Kuri was, and that's saying something...

-**Tsuzuki's turn**-

"Welcome, Welcome. You're the last one." Nariko said. "Please have a seat."

"I'm fine standing." Tsuzuki replied.

"Suit yourself. Now let's get down to business. Why are you here? This kidnapping doesn't concern you, so why are you here?" Nariko asked.

"Because I want to help get Kuri back."

"But why? You all say that but why? You realize that you're risking your life, getting involved in all of this."

"I know, but I'll risk it." Tsuzuki said with determination.

"But Why?"

"Because she came and helped me. I didn't even know her back then and yet she showed up and was willing to do anything she could to help me get Hisoka back." Tsuzuki replied.

"Do you love the boy?"

"Well...Is it necessary that you know that?" Tsuzuki replied nervously.

"Yes it." Nariko said.

"If I did would you have a problem with that?"

"A good answer. Let me guess Damian said for you not to say anything that would piss me off, right?"

"Actually yes."

"He always says things like that. I prefer people to be completely honest with me. I know more than you realize, and let's call it an honesty test." Nariko said, trying to explain.

"Seriously?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Seriously. So you were saying…"

"I'll repeat my question would you have a problem with it, if I did?"

"No. I've never cared about that sort of thing. All I need to know is the depth of a person's love, then I judge it, but not until then. So, how much do you love the boy?"

"I'd do anything to keep him safe, even die." Tsuzuki replied.

"But you said that you'd do the same thing for Kuri. What is the difference?"

Tsuzuki was confused. He had never really thought through what the difference was. It was starting to get too confusing for him. "You got me there." he replied after a moment.

"I do that to a lot of people. Tsuzuki I can see how much you love that boy, but you need to remember that your life is worth something. If you are so willing to throw it away, then you are insulting the person who loves you." Nariko said.

"How so?" Tsuzuki asked.

"By making it seem as if their love isn't worth anything. If you consider yourself worthless, then that reflects on the person who loves you. You need to understand that your life is valuable and that someone wouldn't be able to live without you. I guaranty that if you were to die, then Hisoka would soon follow, just as you would if he died. You two love each other so much, it's a little scary."

"How do you know that?" Tsuzuki asked, puzzled. How did this woman know so much about him and Hisoka?

"There are no secrets here remember?"

"That's true, but for someone to know that much about love, you must be in love as well." Tsuzuki replied knowingly.

"You catch on rather quick. Yes, I am."

"Is it Damian?"

"Do you think it's wise to ask such a question?" Nariko asked teasingly.

"At this point I'll risk it." Tsuzuki replied, sure of himself.

"Yes, it is." Nariko replied with a sense of sadness.

"Then why aren't you two together?" Tsuzuki asked, curiously.

"We decided to take some time off from each other. It happens, especially to our kind, but we're still together in a way."

"I think I understand…"

"When you have eternity why rush?" Nariko said.

"That I can understand." Tsuzuki said with a smile.

"Well… that's all that I need from you Tsuzuki. You can go on out and tell the others that I'll be right there." Nariko said, standing up and going to her bathroom.

"Alright. But have you decided?" Tsuzuki asked, heading towards the door.

"Yes, I have." she said and closed the door to the bathroom.

-**Nariko's bathroom thoughts**-

-Nariko's point of view...-

Alright I've got some strange people out there and what am I going to do?

Let's think this through...

Ryu is Damian's fledgling so of course I feel some desire to help him. Besides he is in love with his partner and I can relate to that. But he still hasn't married her after that long! How long can a girl wait? I'm just worried that there's something he's not telling me. It can't be that important, but there's more to his relationship with Kuri. But that shouldn't influence my decision.

Damian...That boy... He knew that I'd want to help him. Damn it!

Hisoka... poor boy. Now I really need to kill that bastard Muraki. That would make me feel so good right now. What's wrong with just one killing? Damn that too because that means I've become attached to Hisoka. That's why Damian brought them all; he knew that if I like someone I'll protect them. Damn... And Hisoka is just sooo cute! How can I say no to that? And he's an empath... I wonder when did I become so soft...

Tsuzuki...Got to love his desire to want to protect those around him. I basically was willing to help from the beginning if they all had a good character. Anyway... I now that he has to have had a screwed up life, but does he truly not value his own life? Giving your life for the one you love is one thing, but not for anyone. He needs to understand that his life has meaning.

I have seriously fallen for them all. Now I just need to decide if they are all worth it. I suppose I better decide soon.

-End Nariko's point of view-

- **The Result**-

"Alright boys, I've come to a decision." Nariko said, emerging from her room.

"What is it?" Ryu asked hesitantly.

"I will help, if each of you agrees to my conditions. There is a specific condition for each of you. Only if all of you except your conditions will I help."

"That's understandable, what are they?" Ryu asked.

"Ryu your condition is that if I help get Kuri back, you must marry her. Will you agree to that?" Nariko said.

Ryu looked shocked, was it really that simple? "Yes, of course I'll accept." he replied.

"Good. Now Damian. Your condition is that you must spend one night together with me." Nariko said with a smirk.

Damian smiled to himself. "That's not a problem, but only one night?"

"Yes, the rest is just for fun, this is business." Nariko replied, turning to Tsuzuki.

"Your condition is that you must protect Hisoka with your life. You are not allowed to sacrifice yourself for anyone except for him. Will you agree?"

"Yes, I'll agree." Tsuzuki said looking at Hisoka, who was now blushing.

"And Hisoka…" Nariko said, turning to Hisoka. "Your condition is a little different…"

"What is it?" Hisoka asked, a little nervous now.

"You must give me one-fifth of your blood." Nariko said.

"WHAT!!!!" Hisoka and Tsuzuki screamed at the same time.

"No, no way!" Tsuzuki yelled.

"It's not that much. I've always wondered what an empath's blood tastes like. It will not be painful, and the only side affect is that you'll be a little tired and wobbly for a little while."

"Hisoka you don't have to do this." Ryu said, not wanting to force Hisoka into doing something like that.

"What other choice do we have?" Hisoka said turning back to Nariko. "I accept." he said.

"What!" Tsuzuki yelled.

"I'll be fine Asato. It's just a little blood." Hisoka told his lover.

"Alright, fine. But I don't like it and I want to be there when it happens." Tsuzuki said.

"I understand Tsuzuki, and you may watch. But you don't have to worry I know what I'm doing. Now that all of you have accepted, I will help you."

"Thank you." Ryu said, bowing to Nariko, and then to everyone else. "And thank you all for being willing to help me."

"No problem." Tsuzuki replied. "But what do we do now?"

"Now, I suppose I better take Hisoka's blood. That way he'll have more time to recover before we go and try to talk to my other brother. Is that alright Hisoka?" Nariko asked.

"That's fine." he relied.

"Then lets go do this." Nariko said heading back towards her bedroom.

-End Chapter 7-

I know it just kind of stopped, but I need to have the next part in the next chapter. Wow… that took forever… I hope you liked it. The next chapter is going to be very important so look for it. I'll update as soon as I can. Thanks for reading! Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Well hello! Thanks to everyone who head read this far. Thank you all. This chapter is ummm... I'm not sure what to say, except that you'd have to read it to know what I'm getting at. Anyway, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Yami No Matsuei no matter how much I wish I did...

-Chapter 8-

"Come here Hisoka." Nariko said, sitting down on the end of her bed.

Tsuzuki closed the door behind them. "You don't have to do this Hisoka." Tsuzuki remind him.

"I know that, but I have to do this if she's going to help us." Hisoka said with determination.

"Alright, I'll be right here." Tsuzuki said, standing against the wall, watching closely.

"Thanks." Hisoka said, with a small smile.

"Come on, it's not that bad. I'll make sure that you don't even feel it." Nariko said trying to be encouraging.

"How could I not feel it? You're going to be sucking my blood out." Hisoka said, moving so he was standing in front of Nariko.

"It's complicated. When I take someone's blood, they go into a type of trance. It's like they're dreaming, floating. Actually it can be a pleasant experience. Some people enjoy the feeling so much that they become "feeders" for vampires." Nariko said.

"I don't think I'll be one of those people." Hisoka said.

"I doubt so as well." Nariko replied.

Hisoka sighed "So what do I do?" he asked.

"You, my dear boy, just stand there and let me do the rest." Nariko said, standing up and moving so that she was behind Hisoka. She put a hand around his waist and pulled him against her. He tensed on contact.

"Relax…" she purred into his ear, as Hisoka visibly relaxed.

Nariko carefully pushed back Hisoka's hair, to give her better access to his throat. She could practically see the blood following through his veins.

"Just relax, it'll be over soon." She said, as she kissed the spot where she was about to bite.

Tsuzuki tensed, but remained still. He had to trust Nariko and this was the ultimate test. If something went wrong, well... he'd see what it'd take to kill a vampire.

Nariko slowly bit down on the flawless neck. She immediately sent Hisoka into that trance-like state as she began to suck.

It was better than she ever imagined. The blood was so smooth, and perfect. She remembered a story she had once been told about a vampire who only drank empath blood, after tasting one. Unfortunately for him, he killed off all the empaths in his area, before he started to cross over into forbidden territory. He was killed, while feeding one night, practically raving mad. Nariko also realized why she was warned not to drink their blood, but she wasn't one who listened well to the rules.

She soon realized that she'd need to let go soon, so she slowed down her drinking, to savor the remaining time. It was a taste that was practically sinful. She didn't want to hurt the boy, but it was getting harder and harder to let go. She forced herself to pull away, cradling Hisoka's now unconscious body.

"Hisoka!" Tsuzuki yelled, running over to grab the boy. Nariko passed Hisoka into Tsuzuki's waiting arms.

"Don't worry Tsuzuki, he's only unconscious. "Nariko said, wiping the remains of Hisoka's blood off of her mouth. She tried to regain her composure before heading out into the main room, as Tsuzuki followed her.

Once they rejoined the others she said "Why don't you take Hisoka back to Damian's place so that he can rest. I didn't do any true damage; he'll just be tired for a while." Nariko said to Tsuzuki.

"That's a good idea. Why don't you go with them Ryu, since they don't know where I live." Damian said.

"So what are you going to do?" Ryu asked.

"He's going to be fulfilling his condition." Nariko replied for Damian.

"Oh. Well let's get going." Ryu said quickly.

"But what's the rush?" Tsuzuki asked all innocently.

"Now Tsuzuki." Ryu said grabbing on to Tsuzuki's shirt and teleporting them out.

"I thought it was one night." Damian said, as soon as he was sure they were gone.

"You're objecting?" Nariko said.

"Not at all." Damian replied kissing Nariko passionately.

They pulled away after a moment. "Bedroom?" Nariko asked.

"Do you have to ask?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well… We dodged that one." Ryu said. Currently they were heading down the long passage to Damian's home. Tsuzuki was still carrying an unconscious Hisoka.

"I suppose so. You sure that Hisoka will be alright?" Tsuzuki asked, looking down at his lover.

"Yes Tsuzuki. He just needs to sleep it off. Don't worry so much." Ryu replied.

"I guess it's just my nature to worry." Tsuzuki said, smiling down at the boy.

"I just can't believe that Nariko is going to help us." Ryu said after a moment.

"I know. It seems that things are going a little too well."

"Don't say that. We can't afford for things to go wrong." Ryu said quickly.

"That's true." Tsuzuki said. _'But really, things never go right for us, ever. Something is going to happen, I know it is. But what? And what's that smell?_' Tsuzuki thought.

"Ryu, you smell that?" Tsuzuki asked, tightening his hold on Hisoka.

"You smell it too. I thought it was just me. We're almost at Damian's place. We better hurry." Ryu replied.

"But that smell… that smell… it's blood! Ryu it's Blood!"

They took off, sprinting towards Damian's place.

"I thought it was strange that Natsumi didn't meet us outside. Damn it!" Ryu cursed.

They reached the door and noticed that the smell of blood was stronger. Ryu threw the door open and both men froze in their tracks.

"No…" Tsuzuki managed to whisper.

The once great room was in ruins. The massive bookcases were destroyed, leaving the thousands of books to cling to what small shelves were left, and the rest to lie on the floor. But it was what was on top of the scattered books that took their breath away. Twenty to thirty women, the exact number they didn't know, were scattered about. They were dead, all of them, their blood still pouring out of their bodies. Each was killed in a different way. One girl was decapitated and the head was nowhere to be seen; while another's throat was slit. One was missing both of her arms, while another both her legs. The worse was the girl that they recognized as Natsumi's body. She had been sliced open, and had her organs taken out. They were next to her in organized piles, as if she was simply dissected. The scene was beyond grotesque. Some bodies were sitting in the chairs as if they were only asleep. But the worst sight, by far were the two people standing amongst the destruction.

"Muraki… Kuri… what?" Tsuzuki said.

Muraki only smiled. "So good of you to join us. **WE** were starting to get bored. Isn't that right Kuri?"

"Oh, of course. There wasn't a challenge at all with these girls." Kuri replied.

Tsuzuki and Ryu were still shocked.

"Kuri what are you doing with him?" Ryu asked after a moment.

"I'm his partner. What did you think? Anyway we still have a job to do." Kuri replied.

"How could you do this! How could you kill all those innocent girls? Why? Why did you do it? Why are you here?" Tsuzuki said, nearly in tears.

"I already said we have a job to do." Kuri replied slghtly annoyed.

"What kind of job? What's happened to you?" Ryu asked desperately.

"Poor Ryu, so confused. You must realize by now that things have changed. I'm not the Kuri you thought you knew."

"What do you mean?" Ryu asked.

Muraki laughed. "Why don't you tell him everything my dear?" he said to Kuri with a smile.

"Of course. You see I never _really_ loved you. No, you were merely someone I could cling to, to use to replace the man I lost all those years ago. Do you want to know why I would vanish for days at a time? Because I was out looking for Kiyoshi. I wanted to get my revenge more than be with you. Did you ever consider that? Or that you were hurting me when you took my blood?"

Ryu froze.

"What's she talking about Ryu?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I'm..." Ryu started.

"Oh, he hasn't told you. He's a vampire just like the rest of them. He's been one ever since he was changed by Damian on that fateful day. It's an incomplete transformation since he's already dead, but he still needs blood once a month, my blood." Kuri replied.

"No way..." Tsuzuki said.

"Yes, it's true. You can ask him for yourself."

"Why are you doing this!?! This isn't you Kuri! It's not, no matter how much you try to deny it, what you said isn't true! I know that!" Ryu shouted before Tsuzuki could ask him.

"How naive. You can't see the difference? I suppose not. Let me show you then." Kuri said opening her mouth. The light hit her teeth, revealing the two fangs that now dwelled within.

"No..." Ryu mumbled, collapsing to the ground.

"Yes Ryu. I'm one of them now. Although my transformation is a little more permanent than yours. Now, we have a job to complete." Kuri said, nodding to Muraki.

"You can't be serious. You're working with a bastard like Muraki. No way. Kuri look at yourself, look at what you're doing and think." Tsuzuki spoke up.

"I've had enough of this talk. We have a mission to complete for Kiyoshi." Muraki said.

"I didn't forgot" Kuri said to Muraki before turning to Tsuzuki and saying "Hand Hisoka over."

"Hell no!" Tsuzuki yelled, turning away, as if to hide Hisoka.

"Ahh.. I knew it wouldn't be easy, but that's what makes it fun. Kuri will you be a dear and take care of this?" Muraki said.

Kuri smiled before replying "Of course Muraki-san."

"Kuri NO! Please! Don't do this!" Tsuzuki yelled.

Kuri only continued to smile as she raised her hand. Tsuzuki tried to move, but realized that he was unable to. Ryu seemed to be struggling to get up, and failed to rise really at all.

"That's better; now have him bring the boy here." Muraki said, standing behind Kuri, putting his arms around her waist.

"Of course." Kuri replied.

Tsuzuki wasn't sure what was happening but his body was moving on its own. He was moving towards Kuri! His eyes widened as he finally realized what was happening and tried desperately to struggle.

"That won't work Tsuzuki. Kuri's gotten much stronger since being changed, even more powerful than you." Muraki said wickedly.

There was nothing Tsuzuki could do. Kuri steered his body across the room, guiding him though the bodies and pools of blood. He tried to fight it, every step he tried to fight, but to no avail. It took him a moment to realize that he had crossed the room and was standing in front of Muraki and Kuri.

Tsuzuki looked at Kuri, pleading with his eyes, but he knew it wouldn't work. This wasn't their Kuri; this was a vampire slave, Kiyoshi's slave.

Muraki reached over and took Hisoka from Tsuzuki's hands.

"No..." Tsuzuki managed to get out.

Muraki chuckled "Sorry to disappoint you, but he's leaving with us. I would suggest you forget about him, because you will not be seeing him again."

"No, Hisoka." Tsuzuki said tears already forming in his eyes.

"We need to get going Muraki, Kyoshi is waiting for us." Kuri said.

"Alright, lets' go then." Muraki replied, as Kuri touched his arm and they vanished.

Tsuzuki felt himself be able to move as soon as they were gone.

"DAMN IT!" He yelled, falling to his knees. He didn't see the girls' blood, staining his pants, or hear Ryu's cries. He was lost, and Hisoka was gone.

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- Nariko's Apartment-

"Damian do you sense that?" Nariko asked standing up. She and Damian had just showered after having an interesting time... yep, that mirror sure was handy!

"You sense it too? Then is it?" he asked, walking up to her.

"Your place?" she asked.

"I fear so." he replied and together they teleported out.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Damian's place-

Nariko and Damian weren't sure what to expect when they teleported in, but this wasn't it.

Damian collapsed at the sight of all of his girls lying dead on the floor. "No... Not this..." he mumbled.

Nariko froze for a moment. Her heart went out to Damian, but this wasn't the time. Ryu was mumbling something as he sat on the floor. Across the room Tsuzuki was sobbing as his clothing was being stained.

"That's it! Everyone out!" she yelled, teleporting all of them back to her place, thankfully she can teleport without touching.

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-Nariko's Apartment-

Nariko reappeared with everyone in tow. They all sat there on the floor, and to be perfectly honest she wasn't sure what to do with them. Tsuzuki was spazing, and sobbing. Ryu was mumbling about something. Damian had simply shut down, which could not be good.

"Damn." she cursed and thought about how to handle this, in the end it was a simple thought. She brought her hands up and chanted softly for a moment. A strange blue light appeared and shot outwards, knocking everyone out.

"Well that'll buy me sometime. Now what to do? And what the hell happened? And where's Hisoka!?!"

-End Chapter 8-

Sorry to end it like that, but I had to stop or I would have written another chapter...Well... I'm not sure what to say. This was a sad chapter in general, sorry about that. Thanks for reading and Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry about the last chapter. It was the most depressing one I've written in a long time. And now on with the story...

Disclaimer: I still don't own Yami No Matsuei...

-Chapter 9-

"What the hell am I going to do now?" Nariko said, looking around the room at the three unconscious men.

"I might as well wake Tsuzuki and Ryu up so that they can tell me what happened. I'll let Damian stay out of it. Personally I don't think he's ready to face what happened, and neither am I." She said, waving her hand so that Tsuzuki and Ryu awoke.

"What..." Ryu mumbled as he was brought back to his senses.

"Listen carefully. I need you to tell me what happened and where Hisoka is." Nariko said as calmly as she could.

With that Tsuzuki started to cry again.

"Come on Tsuzuki. Please don't cry." Nariko said, going and sitting next to Tsuzuki, pulling him into a hug.

Ryu just looked at them- Tsuzuki sobbing into Nark's shirt as she rubbed his back. Ryu felt himself fill with anger and a sense of betrayal. _'Kuri, what's happened to you?_' he thought.

Nariko looked up at Ryu, silently asking for an answer. Ryu opened his mouth to speak and slowly the words spilled out. He told her everything and by the end, he too was crying.

"That bastard of a brother!" Nariko cursed to herself, still holding Tsuzuki. She looked down at him and then at Ryu. "Ryu can you give us a moment?" she asked.

Ryu nodded in response, not trusting his voice.

"You can go and relax in my room. Sometimes a shower helps, Tsuzuki will be joining you shortly." Nariko said as Ryu walked into her bedroom and closed the door behind him.

"Alright, come here." Nariko said, shifting so that Tsuzuki was sitting comfortably on her lap. His crying still hadn't slowed.

"Shhh... it's alright. Let it out. Let it all out." Nariko whispered.

She wasn't sure how long she sat there as Tsuzuki continued to cry, every now and then calling out Hisoka's name. Nariko felt helpless. There was nothing she could do right now to help him except let him cry his heart out. Finally the crying subsided enough that Nariko decided to speak.

"Tsuzuki, I don't know if there's anything I can say that will make you feel better, but I will say this- I will do everything in my power to get Hisoka back. I can promise you that Tsuzuki. I just need time. I need time to figure this out, but we will get him back." she said, tightening her hold on the man.

Tsuzuki let out a small chuckle, which confused Nariko.

"Another girl told me that once and look what's happened..."

"But this time it's Kiyoshi and Muraki so we need to think this through, but I will say this, the war is on."

"What do you mean?" Tsuzuki asked confused.

"I'm going to enter the battle Tsuzuki. I wasn't planning on it, but if it's a war Kiyoshi wants, then he's going to get one." Nariko replied with a small smile.

Tsuzuki wasn't sure what to say and just snuggled against Nariko, feeling drowsy for some reason.

"You need to rest now Tsuzuki alright? Just let yourself relax..." Nariko said, slowly pulling Tsuzuki into sleep.

Tsuzuki went limp against Nariko. She let out a sad smile as she picked him up and carried him into her bedroom. She placed him on the bed and heard the shower going; apparently Ryu had decided to take a shower.

"Rest up Tsuzuki." She said as she closed the door. She slowly let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding. She walked over to Damian, and took a moment to think things through.

'I'm not sure what to do about Damian and I still don't know how I'm going to handle Tsuzuki when he wakes up. Ahhh, Damn it all.' she thought.

She sat down next to Damian and slowly brought him awake. He opened his eyes, and blinked in confusion.

"What happened?" he mumbled.

"You're home was attacked." Nariko replied.

"That's right... and... No! No! Let me go back Nariko! No!" Damian yelled as Nariko grabbed onto him.

"They're dead Damian, all of them, and Hisoka is missing." Nariko said.

"It can't be... no..." Damian whispered as a few tears escaped, he quickly wiped them away.

"Don't you dare hold this in. You loved every one of those girls and you have every right to cry. So please, be honest with yourself and let it out."

Damian looked at her as the tears began to flow more freely. He couldn't help it but he was crying. He hated to cry, he was a man, a vampire man and crying wasn't what they did. But now here he was- crying into the chest of the woman he was changed by.

"They really are all dead?" he asked.

"Yes and I'm sorry. I know there's no way to bring them back, but we will get back at them for this. I promise you."

"How can you promise that? You don't know what's going to happen." Damian said.

"I have my reasons, and I will do everything I can for you, you know that right?"

"I know but still you have your other fledglings to worry about. I'm not the only one." Damian said.

"I understand that, but you're the one I'm in love with, you get special treatment." Nariko replied.

Damian let out a small snicker as he continued to quietly sob, until be basically passed out. Nariko had nothing to do with it this time; the man was simply wiped out.

She laid him down on the couch and went into check on Tsuzuki and Ryu. She opened the door and was glad to see that they were both awake.

"Well, I see that you both are awake now." she said, sitting down on a chair.

"Nariko... Who were all those girls?" Tsuzuki asked, trying his best to keep from crying again.

"Those were the girls who lived with Damian. Yes he fed on them, but never enough to hurt them. He would never hurt them. He loved each and every one of them and never wanted to them to get hurt." Nariko replied sadly.

"But how did he get so many? It doesn't seem like a girl's dream job." Ryu asked.

"He found each of them- some where about to commit suicide, or were simply running away, with no place to go or life to live. They all wanted to get away and that's what Damian offered. Most of those girls would be dead without his interference."

"They're not exactly living." Ryu mumbled. Yes, he was being mean, but he honestly couldn't help it. His mind had sort of shut down until further notice.

"You both have been there. That place was built for those girls. He took a lot of time making sure that they had everything they wanted. Hell, they could even go out if they wanted as long as they didn't say anything about him. They never did by the way and wouldn't be able to eve if they tried because of his influence over them. Now all that's left is a man, who's feeling broken and I can't handle all of this!" Nariko yelled, storming out of the room.

"Wait Nariko!" Tsuzuki yelled going after her. He looked around and noticed that she was out on the balcony. He cautiously approached her. "Nariko?" he asked.

She turned around to look at him. "Oh, Tsuzuki. Come on out if you want. Sorry about that."

"It's alright. I don't think I'd be able to handle all of this." he said, leaning against the railing.

"Tsuzuki, please stop blaming yourself."

"But I failed him again Nariko. I let the one I love be taken from me and now who knows what's going to happen."

"But that's just it Tsuzuki, you didn't let this happen. I know you well enough to say that you fought Kuri the best you could, so please stop beating yourself up about this. We need to look forward. Dwelling on what has happened won't help us now."

"But still. I don't know what to do. Please, tell me what to do; what will make this pain go away."

"Getting Hisoka back is the only thing that will help you Tsuzuki and you know that. I can't do anything else." Nariko replied sadly.

"But you were able to knock us out, can't you do something." Tsuzuki pleaded.

"If I were to do anything you would still wake up to this nightmare, it's better to face it now."

"But what are we going to do?"

"We're going to go after them. I'm already gathering my fledglings. It'll take a few days for them all to get here but we should still have time."

"What are you talking about?" Tsuzuki asked confused.

"Tsuzuki... I have an idea, but you need to be pretty open about this one." Nariko said.

"Alright, let's hear it." Tsuzuki replied.

"You remember how I made you promise that you would do anything you could to protect Hisoka?" she asked.

Tsuzuki flinched but nodded.

"Well... after a lot of thought, I came up with a possible way to fight Kiyoshi."

"And what would that be?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Basically I'm going to enter the battle, as I already told you. As we speak my fledglings are gathering. It'll take three days for everyone to get here and for me to go and talk to my other brother." she replied.

"So where do I fit into all of this?" Tsuzuki asked.

"You realize that Kuri was changed, and that's why she has the amount of power that she does, right?"

Tsuzuki nodded.

"So, we're going to need all the strength we can get and if you would be willing to do this, we'd have a much better chance."

"And what are you saying exactly?"

Nariko took a breath before replying "I'm saying. I want to change you into a vampire."

-End Chapter 9-

I'm sorry to end it there, but I had to because of the next chapter. Please don't kill me! Thanks for reading and please review!


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry about just ending that last chapter. This one is a little longer. I hope you enjoy it!

-Chapter 10-

"What did you say?" Tsuzuki asked confused. He had to have heard wrong.

"You heard me. I want to turn you into a vampire." Nariko replied.

"No way! I can't do that!" Tsuzuki yelled.

"Yes you can, well I can. Please consider this Tsuzuki." Nariko pleaded.

"I can't. There's just no way!"

"Yes there is. Think about Kuri. She's been changed and look at how powerful she is now. That's what vampire blood does to people. It makes them stronger and considering we're going to war, we need to be as strong as possible." Nariko explained.

"There has to be some other way. There has to be something else I can do instead. I don't want to become a monster." Tsuzuki replied.

Nariko glared at him. "A monster? How dare you say that! What have I done that resembles a monster! I'm not, none of my fledglings are either! We are far from monsters! How can you say something like that!" she yelled.

"I didn't mean it in that way, just a vampire…" Tsuzuki tried to explain.

"A vampire is what? Emotionless, uncaring and disgusting! Is that what you think we are! Then what the hell am I doing helping you?" Nariko yelled before storming off.

Tsuzuki was left standing there as Damian walked out, apparently he had been listening to the whole thing.

"That could have gone better." Damian said.

"I realize that. I think I missed something. I understand that I defiantly used the wrong word but I didn't mean it like that." Tsuzuki said sadly.

"I understand what you're saying, but Nariko has always been a bit touchy about her being a vampire and all."

"What do you mean? She never seems that way." Tsuzuki said confused.

"Things aren't always as they seem, you should know that." Damian said with a smirk.

"I suppose that's true, but how does she expect me to react, asking me something like that."

" I think she wants you to really consider what she's saying. It's true that vampires are more powerful and that her blood would bring out your full potential."

"But I wouldn't be me…" Tsuzuki mumbled.

"What exactly do you think vampire blood does?" Damian asked after a moment.

"I'm not sure actually…" Tsuzuki replied quietly.

"No wonder you're so confused; let me clear a few things up. First you don't become some sort of zombie that rises up out of a coffin, that's just not the way things are. Yes the person dies, but normally the one that changed them watches over the transformation to ensure that nothing happens to the person. We are people, as much as you are, there's no difference besides what we eat and how powerful we are. Nariko takes great offense to anyone who says otherwise."

"But I didn't mean to." Tsuzuki said.

"I know that and she probably does as well, which is why you aren't dead right now. Just talk to her, and listen. But be careful what you say, I don't want you to get hurt." Damian said with a smile.

"You and me both." Tsuzuki replied, heading inside to find Nariko.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nariko was currently in her bedroom, after throwing Ryu out. (How mean!) And to say she was pissed would be an understatement.

_'DAMN! DAMN! DAMN! Is he trying to piss me off! Honestly! What does he expect after saying something like that to me! Arg!!!! Breathe… Breathe… Oh screw that!_' she thought.

"ARG!!!!!!!"

There was a knock at the door.

"Go the hell away!"

Knock-Knock

"I said leave or you're dead!"

"Nariko it's me…" Tsuzuki said.

"Leave or I will kill you!"

"Please let me in. I'm sorry." Tsuzuki said.

_'Don't listen to him…'_ she thought.

"He really is sorry Nariko. Please let him in." Damian said.

_'No they're ganging up on me! No fair!'_

"Alright. Fine come in." Nariko said reluctantly.

The door opened to reveal a nervous Tsuzuki and a smiling Damian.

"Why are you so happy?" Nariko asked Damian.

"Because I know why you're like this and I can safely say that I'm flattered." Damian said, sitting down next to her.

Nariko gave him a small glare before letting out a small laugh. "Of course you would know."

"I'll let you explain things. I think Tsuzuki is very confused right now. Bye." Damian said, kissing her quickly before getting up and leaving.

"Nariko I…" Tsuzuki started.

"Sit." she interrupted. She took a deep breath. "I'm pissed at you right now, but I may have over reacted. So sorry about that.You didn't know that it would upset me this much, so I'll let it slide."

"I really didn't mean it like that Nariko. I'm sorry that I offended you." Tsuzuki said sadly.

"It's not that Tsuzuki." Nariko replied.

"Then what is it?"

Nariko sighed. "It's not that you insulted me, but that you insulted a portion of our kind. Yes, some of us are monsters, Kiyoshi is for example. But that doesn't include my fledglings. We don't even feed off of people."

"But you still take their blood."

"That we do. But it's different taking from a blood bank that we own. We don't kill anymore." Nariko said simply.

"But you did. You use to kill didn't you?"

"We all did Tsuzuki, but that was a long time ago." Nariko replied.

"But you did kill." Tsuzuki insisted.

"Yes I killed. I killed those who wanted to die! I walked among the battle fields, bringing mercy to those who wished death. The wounded and dieing, those who wanted to be released from this life. I killed them, and to them I was their savior from the pain. Death was already upon them, but I helped them go. I killed the elderly, taking away their final breaths, only days before their time. I took those who waited, with bleeding wrists in the alleyways, hoping that they could die, wishing that they could die. I changed some of them, offering them another chance to live, free from the pain they lived with. And I killed. I killed them Tsuzuki, I did, I had to." Nariko replied angrily.

"You didn't have to kill them."

"What choice did I have? I needed to live Tsuzuki. It's not like I wanted to be changed."

"You didn't?" Tsuzuki asked, shocked.

"No, but I accepted it. My Lord changed me, forced me into this life of darkness. He had me change others, creating fledglings, which was smart on his part."

"Then why don't you just move on? There must some ways for you to die."

"There are but I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because of my fledglings. The main reason they are all still alive is because of me. I'm able to protect them, because I am powerful enough. I'm not really messed with. If I were to die, they would be slaughtered. You see I allow my fledglings to have their own minds and do their own things. They have boundaries, but they aren't my slaves, like Kiyoshi. I care about all of them too much to leave them at the mercy of the other vampires. I haven't changed anyone in two hundred years actually. Maybe when they all move on then I will as well, until then I have to stay alive." Nariko explained.

"But you're willing to change me?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Yes, so that you can fight with us and get Hisoka back."

"And I'll be one permanently or like Ryu?"

"I honestly don't know. I hope to be able to make it temporary, but it depends on your blood and how it mixes with mine. So I'll need to talk to your doctor first and have my guys run a few tests on your blood before I do anything." Nariko said.

"And I wouldn't have to kill right?" Tsuzuki asked hesitantly.

"No. I would make sure of that."

"So. Why don't we talk to Watari first before I make a decision." Tsuzuki said.

"Alright. Lets go see this Watari."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
-Watari's point of view-

BOOM!

"What did I do wrong this time? I must have… no… but… no… AH! I got it. I was suppose to add two… no that's not it either. Forget this." I said to myself.

How was I suppose to know that I would blow up the lab again? Tatsumi will be here shortly to yell at me about the budget and my experiments. Doesn't he realize that it's all for the sake of science! Honestly!

Creak!

Crap! That must be him.

"Tatsumi, it's not what you think. I knocked over my…my… desk! Yes that's it! I promise I will be more careful next time." I say, looking down to avoid the death look. Yes, Tatsumi has a death look, and with Tsuzuki and Hisoka gone, he seems to have noticed more of my incidents… why can't they be here to cover me?

"Watari…" I hear, but that's not Tatsumi.

"Tsuzuki?" I ask hesitantly.

"You're here, good." Tsuzuki says as he steps forward. There's a strange looking woman with him. If I would be so bold to say she looks like a seductress… awkward…

"Tsuzuki why are you here? And who's that?" I ask.

"That's him?" The woman asks.

Tsuzuki nods.

I hear the door opening and a "Watari?" before everything goes black.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Nariko's place-

-Third person point of view-

"Nariko why did you do that to them?" Tsuzuki asked, as Nariko's men placed an unconscious Tatsumi and Watari on the couch.

"I couldn't let anyone else see that I was there, I am a vampire remember?" she replied.

"Yes, but this seems as if we're kidnapping them, and I know Tatsumi is going to be pissed when he wakes up." Tsuzuki said, slight fear evident in his voice.

"Well, let's see shall we." she said, waving her hand.

Tatsumi and Watari began to stir and Tsuzuki stiffened.

"Wha… What they hell!" Watari yelled as he came to.

Tatsumi simply sat up and glared. "Tsuzuki, would you care to explain what exactly is going on here?" he said in a tone that resonated death.

Tsuzuki shrunk away, but Nariko was unfazed.

"You're Watari, right?" she said, looking at Watari.

He nodded and replied "Yes, would you please explain what's going on?"

"Fine. I'm going to assume you know that Kuri has been kidnapped. To add to that she's now a vampire and Hisoka has been kidnapped as well. They were taken by the vampire leader of my clan Kiyoshi. I need you to work with my scientists to see if Tsuzuki's blood is compatible with mine." she said simply.

There was a awkward silence.

"And why would you need to see if your blood is compatible?" Tatsumi asked, still very confused.

"To see about him becoming a vampire." Nariko replied.

There was another silence as her words sank in.

"WHAT!!!!" Tatsumi and Watari yelled.

"Is this true!?! Are you considering becoming a vampire?" Tatsumi asked Tsuzuki.

"Well… yes." Tsuzuki replied.

"How can you consider that? It goes against everything that we do!" Tatsumi said.

Tsuzuki didn't want to explain everything right now. Nariko caught on and summoned Damian.

"Tatsumi-san. This is Damian. Why don't you go and let him explain everything to you. Tsuzuki why don't you go as well. I'll talk to Watari-san." Nariko said with a smile.

The others quickly left, leaving Watari and Nariko alone…

"Well, considering you're a doctor/ scientist, I' going to say that you probably have about a thousands questions for me."

"Hell yea! How did you become a vampire? How does the transformation occur? What's it like? Does the whole garlic thing work? How old are you? What's.." Watari began.

"Hold up! One question at a time. And I better explain the situation a little better." Nariko said.

"I guess that makes sense." Watari said, sounding disappointed.

"I'll let you ask me questions when I'm done." Nariko said, reluctantly.

"Yea!"

Nariko then explained everything…

(Yes I'm too lazy to write it all out…)

"Okay…" Watari said, trying to figure everything out.

"Now do you have any questions?" Nariko asked.

"Not right now. I'll get back to you on that one." Watari said standing up.

"Where are you going?"

"I have no idea, but let's begin the tests!" he replied, walking out of the room. Nariko smiled a little and followed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A little later…

"So do you have all the equipment you need?" Nariko asked Watari as she walked around her lab.

"here is so much in this room that there won't be a problem. See Tatsumi, this is what I need." Watari said dancing happily around the room.

"So that you can blow it up. No. Besides it must have cost a fortune." Tatsumi replied.

"There is no price for discovery. Right Nariko-san?" Watari asked.

"Call me Nariko, and right. But Tatsumi-san is correct, it cost a lot."

"That's besides the point! No where is Tsuzuki?" Watari asked.   
"Here…" a small voice came.

"Alright everyone else out! Except for my assistants. Tatsumi, I need an assistant." Watari said.

"No." was the response he got as everyone left the lab. Leaving Tsuzuki alone with Watari…

-End chapter 10-

To let everyone know Nariko is still a little angry, and I promise that I'll explain why later, please don't kill me for it.

Another random ending. Sorry about just stopping again. Hope you enjoyed it! Please review! Please!


	11. Chapter 11

Sorry for the delay. I was away on a trip and just got back. I'll be updating Photograph soon as well. So here's the next chapter! 

Just so you know there's going to be a flashbacks and they will be _italicized._

-Chapter 11-

-Ryu's point of view-

Damn!

Damn it all while I'm at it!

-Flashback-

_"How could you do this! How could you kill all those innocent girls? Why? Why did you do it? Why are you here?" Tsuzuki said, nearly in tears._

_"I already said we have a job to do." Kuri replied slightly annoyed._

_"What kind of job? What's happened to you?" Ryu asked desperately._

_"Poor Ryu, so confused. You must realize by now that things have changed. I'm not the Kuri you thought you knew."_

_"What do you mean?" Ryu asked._

_Muraki laughed. "Why don't you tell him everything my dear?" he said to Kuri with a smile._

_"Of course. You see I never really loved you. No, you were merely someone I could cling to, to use to replace the man I lost all those years ago. Do you want to know why I would vanish for days at a time? Because I was out looking for Kiyoshi. I wanted to get my revenge more than be with you. Did you ever consider that? Or that you were hurting me when you took my blood?"_

_Ryu froze._

_"What's she talking about Ryu?" Tsuzuki asked._

_"I'm..." Ryu started._

_"Oh, he hasn't told you. He's a vampire just like the rest of them. He's been one ever since he was changed by Damian on that fateful day. It's an incomplete transformation since he's already dead, but he still needs blood once a month, my blood." Kuri replied._

-End Flashback-

I can't believe all of this is happening. It's true that I take Kuri's blood, but that was her choice. She could have left me that day, but she offered me her blood instead. She could have left me at anytime, I wasn't forcing her to stay, so then why? Why did she say all those things?

She must have been lying.

_"Of course. You see I never really loved you. No, you were merely someone I could cling to, to use to replace the man I lost all those years ago. Do you want to know why I would vanish for days at a time? Because I was out looking for Kiyoshi. I wanted to get my revenge more than be with you. Did you ever consider that?"_

Yes I considered that. In the back of my mind I always had doubts from when you told me about your first love, but I thought I moved past them, that we moved past them… I thought that maybe you were able to let go enough, not all the way but enough. I thought that you had come to love me instead, that I had filled that place in your heart. Maybe I was wrong…

_"Or that you were hurting me when you took my blood?"_

I knew I was hurting her when I took her blood but it was still her choice. I never wanted to hurt her and did my best, but I was never taught how to feed so that the experience wasn't completely pain free. But I did my best! I never meant to hurt her.

How did things come to this?

And now she's one of us. The one person that I never wanted to live this life has become a true vampire. And not only that but she was changed by Kiyoshi- the person we are fighting against. She's fighting against us, against me.

Why did all this have to happen?

Why?

Why?

-End Ryu's point of view-

-Nariko's living room-

"How long has he been in there?" Tatsumi asked, motioning towards Nariko's bedroom door.

"I have no idea. The only time he left was when Nariko through him out. After that he went back in once she left. I don't think he has spoken since then." Damian replied.

"Should someone go and talk to him?" Tatsumi asked.

"He needs to be alone right now to think things through. Kuri said a lot of things that must be plaguing his mind." Nariko replied.

"Besides out of sorrow comes anger, and that will cause him to focus on his vampire blood. He'll need to be as powerful as possible for the battle. Maybe this is a blessing in disguise." Damian said.

"How can you say that!?! The man has been hurt and all you can say is maybe it was for the best! Don't you have any feelings at all!" Tatsumi said enraged.

"Think about this logically Tatsumi-san. We all would like to live to see the end of this battle. And inorder for that to happen we must be at our maximum potential." Damian replied calmly.

"What the hell!" Tatsumi started when the door opened and Watari and Tsuzuki came out.

"Well?" Nariko asked.

"I need you to see something Nariko." Watari said as Tsuzuki went over to join the group.

Nariko stood up to follow Watari into the lab, as Tsuzuki tried to calm the still angry Tatsumi.

-The Lab-

"What did you want me to see?" Nariko asked, following the strangely quiet scientist through a maze of equipment.

"You'll see." was the reply as he continued walking.

Watari came to a stop in front of a microscope. "Look at this" he said.

Nariko looked down in the microscope and saw a cluster of cells. "So… what's the problem?" she asked.

Watari produced a dropper and began to explain.

"This is Tsuzuki's blood you are seeing. When I introduce your blood into his this happens." he said as he squirted Nariko's blood onto the plate.

Nariko was still confused until Watari began to speak again. "When your blood comes in contact with Tsuzuki's his blood cells at first change and adapt, but then they begin to destroy your blood cells, but it's a slow process, it would take about a day."

"So your saying that Tsuzuki will only be a vampire for a day if I change him?" Nariko asked, shifting so she was standing upright.

"Exactly" was the reply.

"So everyday I will have to give him more of my blood to maintain the transformation?" she asked.

"I suppose but then again I've never even met a vampire before, let alone know exactly how their blood reacts." Watari replied.

"Thanks. Can you go and send Tsuzuki in for me?" she asked.

"Sure" was the reply as Watari left the room.

Tsuzuki entered a moment later and walked over so her was standing in front of Nariko.  
"You wanted to see me?" he asked.

"Yes Tsuzuki. I wanted to ask you one last time- Do you still want me to change you? According to Watari I can but it's still your decision. Think about it." she said.

Tsuzuki thought and Thought… and thought…

Finally he replied "Yes. I want you to change me."

No other words were said. Nariko rose and moved swiftly over so she was behind Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki didn't flinch as he felt her lips on his skin and her teeth as they slowly bit down on his soft flesh. He wouldn't flinch, he would do this without regret, this was for Hisoka.

Nariko pulled at Tsuzuki's mind, slowly relaxing him as she began to drain him. She was confused for a moment. Tsuzuki's blood tasted different than other guardians, granted everyone has their own taste, but this was different. She couldn't quite figure it out, but something was different. But now was not the time to think about that, she had work to do.

She continued to suck at Tsuzuki's life essence until she reached the point between life and death. The line is very narrow and she had to be careful so that she didn't kill Tsuzuki. She pulled away, hoping that Tsuzuki was still conscious, luckily he was.

She brought her wrist up to her mouth and tore open the soft flesh with her teeth. She brought her wrist up to Tsuzuki's mouth and pushed it against his lips. Tsuzuki seemed to understand as his lips latched onto her wrist and he drank. Instinct took over as Tsuzuki's began to drain Nariko.

Mariko held on as Tsuzuki continued to drink. Of course there are risks for the person being changed but there are also risks for the changer. If Tsuzuki drank too much she could die, once again it was a fine line. Nariko focused, waiting to reach that line.

The time was fast approaching when she'd have to separate from Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki was lost in his blood lust, as most new vampires are, and had no control over himself as he drank. He all of a sudden felt hands on his shoulders but he fought them.

Nariko tried to push Tsuzuki away but the man was rather big, and her strength was drained. She quickly mentally called out to Damian as she began to loose consciousness.

Damian sprinted into the room and rushed over to Tsuzuki and Nariko. He pried Tsuzuki off of Nariko as Nariko collapsed. Tsuzuki looked stunned, horrified even as Nariko went limp in Damian's arms. He began to tremble…

"I didn't mean to… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry." Tsuzuki whimpered, afraid he had seriously hurt Nariko.

"Don't worry about it Tsuzuki. She just lost a little more blood than normal. She'll be fine after a short rest. Now lets get her out of here and get you cleaned up." Damian said standing up, cradling the uncurious Nariko in his arms.

Tsuzuki followed Damian out of the lab and into the living room. Damian laid Nariko on the bed, giving her a kiss before showing Tsuzuki to the bathroom. Tatsumi and Watari watched the whole thing.

Once Tsuzuki came out with Damian Watari asked "So… how is it?"

"I don't really feel any different." Tsuzuki replied.

"You won't yet, first you have to actually change." Damian said.

"What do you mean?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Nariko's blood hasn't taken effect yet it should anytime now and you'll probably pass out as well." Damian replied.

"Seriously?" Watari asked.

"Yes. Actually right… about… now."

**THUMP!!!**

"Told you."

"You're good." Watari said.

"Someone want to help me move him?" Damian said trying to lift the now unconscious Tsuzuki.

Tatsumi went over to help and together they put Tsuzuki into one of the guest rooms. Once they came back they noticed Nariko was awake.

"Is he out yet?" she asked.

"You just missed him." Damian replied.

"Since that's the case I better get going." she said standing up.

"You just woke up and you need some more rest. And where are you going?" Damian asked.

"I'm going to go and see Kisho Shijo." she replied.

"Who's that?" Watari asked confused.

"That's my other brother. I need to see if he'll be willing to help us in the upcoming battle." she replied.

"You still shouldn't go right now. You're still to weak." Damian pointed out.

"That's why Tatsumi will come with me." she replied.

"WHAT!!!" was the collective response.

"Yep." was all she said.

"Me? Why?" Tatsumi asked.

"Well… I need Damian here to watch Tsuzuki while I'm gone and for Watari to monitor Tsuzuki for me, Ryu is of no use yet and you're free. So will you come with me?" was her response.

"Ummm…"

"Go one Tatsumi. We can take of things here." Watari said confidently.

"It would be good for you to go. Nariko will have time to explain anything you want to know. And you two can bond. So how bout it?" Damian asked.

Tatsumi hesitated for a moment be fore saying "Fine I'll go."

"Yea! Now lets get going." Nariko said walking towards the front door. "Come on Tatsumi."

Tatsumi stood and followed Nariko, wondering what he's gotten himself into.

-End chapter 11-

Thanks for reading. Sorry that things are taking a while but a lot has to happen before the battle. The next chapter is going to focus on Tatsumi and Nariko and Kisho. Please review! I will love you if you do! Please!!!!


	12. Chapter 12

I'm back! And here's a long chapter!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Yami No Matsuei no matter how much I wish I did...

-Chapter 12-

-Nariko's car-

"Remind me why we're riding in a car." Tatsumi said.

"Because I can't remember where Kisho's house is exactly." Nariko replied.

"So you're not sure where we're going."

"I have a good idea, but I'd rather not teleport and end up stuck in some wall."

"Great…" Tatsumi sighed.

The car got quiet.

"Now would be a good time for me to answer any questions you may have about all of this. I believe Damian filled you in on some things, but now's your chance." Nariko said.

At this point Nariko was driving Tatsumi up some mountain. She thought driving would be better, and that way she could talk to Tatsumi, not that she would tell him that last part. The guy seemed too uptight.

"Why are you helping us? It's seems strange for you to get involved in a war that you weren't originally a part of."

"I was a part of the war, all vampires are. I just decided not to participate. The result of the battle directly impacts me and my fledglings, so in a way I'm still I the war." Nariko replied.

"But why are you helping us?"

Nariko sighed. "It's complicated. Damian changed Ryu, who feeds off of Kuri. I changed Damian, not to mention he's my favorite fledgling. Ryu needed Damian's help, so he brought them to me. From there I made a deal with them- if each of them made a promise to me I would help them and they all held up their end so I'm doing the same."

"Alright… But why do so much, as to enter the battle?"

"Because of Kuri's powers, they could make it so Kiyoshi won and if that were to happen the vampire race would be doomed."

"Sorry if that doesn't seem that horrible to me." Tatsumi said.

"That's the way most people think, but in reality society wouldn't be able to function without us." Nariko said with a smirk.

"How so?" Tatsumi asked confused.

"Once you've been around as long as we have you learn a few business tricks. Most of our kind are involved in business, a few in politics, and some do smaller jobs. After a few decades, cycles begin to show and we ride them rather well."

"How have you been able to stay hidden for so long? It seems impossible that we haven't heard about you."

"You get very good at hiding and sorry but I'm not going to tell you about how we do it. Remember we aren't exactly allies in most cases."

"Except this one."

"Yes, except this one."

The car fell silent.

"What do you think of our kind Tatsumi-san?" Nariko asked after a while.

"I'm not sure what to say. You seem to be rather powerful, even though I have yet to see this power of yours, but it's there. That and I'm not suppose to piss you off." Tatsumi replied.

Nariko let out a small laugh. "You definitely talked to Damian. Don't worry though. If I ask you then I just want an honest answer."

"That your some sort of monster." Tatsumi replied.

Nariko visibly flinched.

"What is it?" Tatsumi asked.

"I just can't stand that word." Nariko said, staring out the front window.

"Why? You must be use to hearing it."

"I am, it just has a certain meaning to me, that's all. Now tell me…"

"What kind of meaning?" Tatsumi interrupted.

Nariko sighed, "I guess I can tell you, there's no reason to hide it. Actually, maybe you'll understand our kind a little better, at least mine. It was about four hundred years ago…I had just changed Damian, and it was first kill. You have to take a huge amount of blood after you're changed in order to survive, normally killing the person. Well, it was Damian's first kill. It didn't seem to upset him that much but he was really quiet afterwards. We went back to my apartment and I needed to go out and get a few things, so left him alone…"

-Flashback-

-Nariko's point of view-

'_I can't believe that neighbor of mine! So what if I get home late! I'm not a kid!_'

I get to the door of my apartment and open it, holding my bag of umm… female things… The first thing I notice is that the place is dark. It's strange since Damian normally reads when I'm gone, which brings me to my next question- where's Damian?

I begin to search the house, calling out his name, but there was no answer. I finally reach our bedroom and there's still no sign of him. It's then that I notice a light coming from the bathroom.

'_That's where he is._'

I open the door and am greeted by a horrid sight. Damian is lying there, holding one of the kitchen knives. There's blood everywhere, so much that its scares me. It takes a lot to kill a vampire but blood loss can if it's bad enough.

I run over and begin inspecting him, noticing the gaping wounds in his chest and neck. I reach for it but his hand stops me.

"Damian what are you doing?"

He sits up and brings up the knife again. His eyes are glazed over as he raises the knife above his head, about to bring it down. I grab hold of his hand, keeping him from doing it.

"Let go of me!" he says.

"Damian stop this! Don't you know what you're doing!" I yell.

"Trying to die!"

"You can't!"

"Why not! All I have to do is stab myself a few more times."

"Why Damian? Why are you doing this?"

"Because I'm a monster!"

"No you're not!"

"I am! I'm a monster and deserve to die!"

"You can't Damian! I won't let you!" I cry as I pry the knife out of his hands. I finally get it away from him and toss it across the floor.

"Why won't you let me die?" he asks.

I pull him to my chest as he begins to cry.

"I killed that girl! I took her blood and her life!" he cries as he clings to my shirt.

"You had to in order to survive." I tell him, running my hand though his hair.

"That's not a good reason. I should be dead! I should have died instead! I want to die Nariko! Please kill me!" he pleads.

I just shake my head. Maybe I am truly selfish but I can't let him go.

"I can't do that Damian. I love you too much." I say, trying to calm him.

"I'm a monster. A monster… a monster…"

-End Nariko's point of view-

-End flashback-

"There was nothing I could say to convince him other wise. He cried that day, for I don't know how long. We never spoke of the incident again, but it was always there. I knew that Damian wanted to die, and I know he still does, but I can't let go of him yet. I know I'm selfish for it, but I truly love the man. Is that wrong?" she asked Tatsumi.

Tatsumi looked at her- this powerful vampire- as a few tears escaped her eyes.

"There's nothing wrong for wanting to keep someone with you that you love. A similar incident happened in my department not to long ago." Tatsumi replied.

Tatsumi remembered Kyoto - the flames, Touda, and Tsuzuki…- he pulled himself out of his thoughts. He looked over at Nariko, who seemed to be lost in thought.

"So why did you want me to come with you?" Tatsumi asked, trying to change the subject.

Nariko let out a small smile at Tatsumi's attempt and replied "Actually, I wanted you to come because I could sense you're powerful. I'm not up to par, and I needed a powerful presence to help intimidate my brother. That, and I didn't want you to feel left out from everything that's going on."

Tatsumi was confused.

"Everyone is going to have their role to play in this Tatsumi-san. You'll find out yours soon enough." she said.

Tatsumi was about to ask another question when the car came to a stop.

"We're here." Nariko announced, getting out of the car.

Tatsumi got out and noticed a rather large cabin, built into the side of the mountain. It was massive, with two chimneys letting out wave after wave of smoke. The windows covered more of the house than the wood. Tatsumi was suspicious.

"You knew exactly where this was didn't you?" he said accusingly.

"Yes I did." Nariko replied.

"Then why didn't we just teleport and save time?"

"Because we wouldn't have had time to talk." was the simple reply.

Tatsumi stood there in shock. This girl wanted to talk with him and that's why they didn't teleport? Strange girl.

"You coming Tatsumi-san?" he heard. He looked up and noticed that Nariko was at the door to the place, he quickly went to join her.

Nariko knocked on the door and waited. The door opened to reveal a woman with long black hair. She must have been around thirty, but her green eyes held such youth in them, they were left wondering.

"Who are you and what's your business here?" she asked.

"I'm Nariko and this is Tatsumi. We're here to see Kisho." Nariko said to the woman.

"The master is very busy." she replied.

"Tell him if he doesn't get his ass out here that I'm coming in whether he likes it or not." Nariko replied sternly.

Tatsumi was confused by this. One minute Nariko was this nice and calm person, the next she was the vampire she truly was, strong and forceful.

"I'll go and tell him. Have a seat while you wait please." the woman said as she opened the door for them.

"Thank you" Nariko replied.

The woman led them into a lavish room. There was a enormous fire place, with a embroidered rug in front of it. The walls were covered with animal heads. Nariko sat down on one of the couches and motioned for Tatsumi to join her. Tatsumi sat down, keeping a small distance between them.

"The master is on his way." The woman said as she entered the room.

"Thank you." Nariko replied. They waited in silence.

All of a sudden a door opened on the other side of the room. Out of it came a man, who appeared to be about thirty. He had long blonde hair, that was pulled back. His face was sharp and rigid, accenting his stern blue eyes. The man walked with confidence, wearing a simple black suit that seemed to stick to his well toned body. He seemed to posses an air of arigance.

"Nariko, it's been a while." he said.

"Same to you Kisho." she replied standing up.

"I take it this isn't a social call." Kisho said.

"Of course. You honestly think I'd be here if I didn't have to be." was Nariko's reply.

"So what brings you to my home?"

"I'm here to ask for your help in the upcoming battle." Nariko said.

"I thought that you weren't going to be participating." Kisho stated haughtingly.

"Things change. So will you help me or not?" Nariko asked, getting right to the point.

"In a moment. Who is this you've brought with you?" Kisho asked, moving so he was standing in front of Tatsumi.

"My name is Tatsumi." Tatsumi said.

"Tatsumi hu? Why are you here?" he asked, circling around him.

"I'm here to provide Nariko-san with any assistance that she may want." Tatsumi replied, choosing his words carefully.

"Good answer, but still why would I help either of you with a battle that doesn't concern me." Kisho said walking away to stand in front of the fireplace.

"I was under the impression that all vampires were impacted by the war." Tatsumi said.

"That's true to some degree, but it doesn't matter to me who wins. I'll be fine in the end."

"Even if Kiyoshi has an incredibly powerful empath and telepath working for him. Not to mention all the people he's been changing." Nariko said harshly.

Kisho stopped for a moment before turning and looking at Nariko. "What did you say?"

"You heard me. And I think you know what I'm inferring. " Nariko replied.

"And what would that be?" Tatsumi asked.

"A battle between humans and vampires." Kisho replied.

"Exactly." Nariko confirmed.

"What?" Tatsumi stuttered out.

"Just what Kisho said. Kiyoshi believes that vampires are the dominant species and that we shouldn't have to hide ourselves from the rest of the world. If he wins there will be a war between humans and vampires, and believe me the vampires will win." Nariko replied.

"There's no way. That can't happen." Tatsumi managed to get out.

"It can and will happen if Kiyoshi gets control of all the vampires. That and everyone who opposes him will die as well." Nariko said. "So will you help us Kisho?"

"I don't know. If Kiyoshi wins and finds out I was helping you I'd be killed. What do you have to offer to ensure that you'll win?" Kisho asked.

"I will use all of my fledglings, you know that they are older and more powerful than any of Kiyoshi's younglings. With that I will be fighting along with Tatsumi here." Nariko answered.

"Anything else?"

"I have just turned the most powerful guardian of death into a vampire. Is that sufficient for you?" Nariko said.

"No way! You were able to do that! You haven't changed anyone in years. Your blood in combination would be incredible, if the person knew how to use it." Kisho said.

"Give me three days and we'll be ready. Can you have your men at my home in three days?" Nariko asked.

Kisho thought for a moment, and Nariko and Tatsumi actually thought he would turn them down, but Tatsumi spoke.

"I know that I may not know everything that's going on here but I can say this much - I know people on both sides, friends who were changed by Kiyoshi by force. I will do anything I can to get them back and to defeat Kiyoshi. Tsuzuki- the most powerful guardian of death- his lover has been captured by Kiyoshi and he will fight with all his heart to win this battle. I just needed to ensure you that we will all be fighting our hardest to defeat Kiyoshi." Tatsumi said.

"Nice…" was Nariko response to Tatsumi's words.

"So what do you say?" Tatsumi asked Kisho.

"Fine. My men will ne there in three days. I'll send my strongest and tell them to fight with you. I may be a bit of a coward, but I'm not stupid. Kiyoshi winning would be disastrous. If that is all you require you may leave as I now have work to do." Kisho said.

"Thank you Kisho, I mean it." Nariko said bowing to him before turning to leave.

Tatsumi bowed as well, and together they left the house.

"That coward... He could fight with us, you know. Arg! Oh well... at least he's going to give us some of his men." Nariko said.

They reached the car. Tatsumi was about to get in when he felt a hand on his shoulder

"Let's teleport back." Nariko said.

"What about the car?" Tatsumi asked, staring at the red sports car.

"It's coming with us." Nariko replied, placing her other hand on the car.

Tatsumi was confused until he felt himself teleporting. He reappeared in Nariko's living room, and Nariko appeared a moment later.

"So how'd it go?" Damian asked.

"Kisho's going to help us." Nariko replied. "Where's Tsuzuki?"

"Still sleeping, you better go and have a look." Watari said.

Nariko decided to go and head into the lab to take a look at Tsuzuki and see if he was now a vampire.

-End chapter 12-

Wow… that took forever… This is defiantly one of my longer chapters. Thanks for reading and please review! The next chapter Tsuzuki wakens and begins his training, but hey he has three days… Please review!


	13. Chapter 13

Hello everyone!

Now then. I finally have all the main characters introduced, for the most part and now it's about time that I finally upload the chapter about what's been going on with Hisoka. Sorry for the delay. This was a really hard chapter for me to write. Well, I hope it was worth the wait! And sorry but Tsuzuki's training will be in the next chapter! I think! Soon then! Moving on…

Disclaimer: I still don't own them…

-Chapter 13-

This takes place right after Hisoka was taken by Muraki and Kuri.

-Hisoka's point of view-

Damn! Damn! Damn!

How the hell did this happen!

I'm currently in a dark, damp, room. It resembles a dungeon, with its stone walls and yes torches. Torches! Is this guy stuck in the past or what?

Creek!

Great… That bastard is probably back, with Kuri. Honestly what's going on?

"I see that you're awake." Muraki says, walking over and standing right in front of me.

Have I mentioned that I'm chained to a wall and that this guy, Kiyoshi, is defiantly stuck in the past? I think I may have mentioned that... but when you're in a place like this, it's easy to forget.

"Pay attention to me when I'm speaking to you boy." Muraki hisses as he grabs my chin, turning me so I'm looking into his mismatched eyes.

"I didn't realize that you were speaking to me." I reply coldly.

He chuckles and lets go of me, walking over to where Kuri is currently standing.

"You know… We could always change you as well. It seemed to work so well on this girl here, but then again it's not my decision to make." Muraki said.

"And why is that?" I ask. Wait. Why did I ask that again?

Muraki smiled. "That's up to Kiyoshi boy." Muraki then turned and began to leave. He came to the door and stopped. He looked back at me and said. "I'll tell Kiyoshi you're awake." before leaving.

Damn.

I let out a breath that I didn't realize that I was holding as the door closes, but I'm still not alone. I turn my attention back to Kuri.

"What the hell are you doing?" I ask her.

She takes a few steps towards me, stopping a good distance away. She looks at me, and now I can see it. She's changed. I know she's a vampire, but I mean I can see the changes. Her eyes are darker, and have lost the light that they once possessed. She's thinner, more muscular. She has this aura about her that is dark, not exactly evil, but dark.

"I'm helping my master." was her reply.

"Kiyoshi isn't your master. You don't work for him, or you didn't use to. You're a guardian of death like me. This isn't who you really are Kuri."

She laughs. I am confused by this.

"You're so naïve, it's rather cute."she says as she continues to laugh.

"What?" I ask.

"You honestly think you knew me, that you know who I am. Kiyoshi didn't' turn me evil, he just brought out the darker side of me."

"Is that what he told you? If it is, how could you believe him?"

"He did tell me but I already knew. I could feel it, the darkness inside of me. Kiyoshi merely brought it out. I knew it would come out one day."

"I can't believe that." I reply.

"Well, if Kiyoshi decides to change you, you'll know for yourself." she says.

"You can't be serious. Kuri you need to wake up. Don't you see what you're doing? How you're hurting everyone?"

"Do you honestly think I care." she says, laughing.

"I thought you use to." I say. I would say more, but the door opens again. It's hard for me to see who it is, but I can feel this person. This is Kiyoshi.

He enters the room, slowly approaching me. He's larger than Tsuzuki, and yet similarly built. He has long back hair and a sculpted face. He moves as if he's floating, which his black robe makes easier, since it comes down to the ground. The robe has gold embroidered on it in an intricate design. There's this aura around him that is simply power, a dark and sinister power. So much so that it's almost overwhelming for me, the darkness inside his man. As he comes to a stop in front of me, I look up, straight into his eyes. I gasp, they're black. No white is present in his eyes, and he's looking at me. He slowly smiles, a wicked smile that makes my skin crawl. He purposely bares his teeth; letting his two canines show as the light catches them.

Holy Crap!

"Well Hello there." he says in a voice that is laced with darkness.

I don't respond. Hell no! I'm not stupid.

"Are you going to respond or not boy?" he says, grabbing hold of my face, bringing it up so that I face him. His long fingernails close around my chin, digging into it so I bleed. He leans down and licks it off slowly. I try to move my head but his grip is too strong. Then he's gone. When did he move?

"Have him brought to my room" Kiyoshi says, turning and leaving.

I'm stunned and feel numb as hands being to grab me. The chains are undone and I fall forward. Unfortunately, Muraki catches me. I look up at him and realize that I still can't move. Muraki smiles at me as I realize that I'm completely paralyzed.

"I see you're beging to realize who you're dealing with." Muraki says.

I find my vision fading, as the darkness encompasses me.

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I wake in the darkness of my mind. There's nothing, not even the normal nightmares I have. There's just nothing…

I see a figure. For a moment I think it's the man of shadows I've become use to seeing, but this person is different, I just know it.

The person slowly comes into view, and it's…. it's...Tsuzuki!

"Hisoka?" he asks confused.

I run over and embrace him, he returns the embrace.

"Are you alright Hisoka? What's going on? Where are you?" he asks.

I can't reply, I'm just so glad to see him. I didn't realize it but I'm crying, he just tightens his embrace, holding me protectively.

"Well isn't this touching?" I hear. I know that voice and I don't want to see him. NO. Not now. Not when Tsuzuki is right here.

"Who are you?" Tsuzuki asks, pulling me against him tighter.

"I'm Kiyoshi" he says.

"It's you then." Tsuzuki says darkly.

"Yes. And I'm afraid you aren't supposed to be here. I'm here for the boy." Kiyoshi says, looking at me. I'm not even looking at the man, but I can feel his eyes on my back.

Tsuzuki moves me so I'm behind him.

"That's not going to do anything. See?" Kiyoshi says.

I'm not sure what happened but I'm standing next to Kiyoshi. I try to move but find myself unable to move once again. Damn it all!

"Hisoka!" Tsuzuki yells, as the darkness begins to latch onto me. The darkness is moving, as if it's thousands of arms reaching up. The very hands of hell, trying to drag me down with them. I try to call out, but can't speak as the world goes black.

-End of Hisoka's point of view-

"Hisoka!" Tsuzuki yells.

Kiyoshi laughs.

"What have you done? Where is he?" Tsuzuki cries out.

"I'm rather impressed that you're here. Either you two have an incredible bond or you're one of us... maybe both. So which is it?" Kiyoshi asks, not even acknowledging Tsuzuki's questions.

Tsuzuki doesn't answer. He only glares at Kiyoshi.

Kiyoshi only smiles. "Well then, I must be going. I have business to attend to." Kiyoshi says as the darkness begins to envelope him.

"Get back here!" Tsuzuki yells.

"And tell my sister I'll be waiting." Kiyoshi says before he too is gone.

"Damn!" Tsuzuki curses as he feels himself waking up.

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-Hisoka's point of view-

I awoke from the darkness to notice that I'm lying down. I try to get up but can't. I look and notice my arms and legs are bound to a bed. Great...

I look around and try to figure out where exactly I am and who's here. It seems that I'm in a plain stone room. There's a metal table on the other side of the room, but besides that the room is empty. No one's even here, thankfully.

The door opens.

Just my luck...

Kiyoshi enters, alone... this can't be good...

"You awake boy?" he asks, coming over and sitting down on the bed.

I don't answer, like hell I would.

"Interesting talent you have there. I wasn't expecting you to have such connections with my sister. It interests me..." he trails off, running a hand across my chest. I want to move away from that hand but can't.

He watches his hand with great fascination. I didn't even notice it but he removed my shirt. All of a sudden he digs his nails into my skin, dragging his hand across my chest. I cry out. The pain is almost as bad as his emotions. They're so dark that it makes my head spin.

He removes his hand and leans down as licks my blood, that seeping up through the torn skin.

"My, the stories are true about an empath's blood... Well, that's a pleasant surprise." he says, leaning down and licking away more blood as the cuts begin to heal.

"What are you going to do to me?" I ask.

He sits up and smiles a toothy smile at me, blood running down his face, my blood.

"My dear boy, I'm going to drain every last ounce of blood from your body and then replace it my own, turning you into a perfect vampire slave." he says bluntly.

I freeze, my entire body tenses. What he just said... no... NO! That can't happen! NO!

"NO!" I yell, but he only laughs.

He leans down and whispers in my ear "You don't have a choice." before latching onto my neck.

It hurts! I've never felt a pain like this before, not even from Muraki. This is an endless darkness, only that that can be created out of hundreds of years of hatred. The draining hurts as well. My body fights it, this is nothing like when Nariko took some of my blood, and he's not even trying to mask the pain. I continue to fight the losing battle. There's nothing I can do.

He keeps draining and I can feel his mind invading my own more and more.

I think about my life in the department, of Watari and Tatsumi, of Konoe, of Damian and Nariko, and I think of Tsuzuki...

Tsuzuki!

Would I ever see him again? What's going to happen now? What's going to happen? I don't know, but I'm starting to fade my mind is going blank as the last of my blood is being removed. My breathing becomes harsher, and my heart struggles to keep beating, but it's to no avail. For a moment I think it's over but then there's fire.

His wrist is in my mouth, his blood dripping down my throat. "Suck" he orders, and I obey.

I drink and the flames seem to die, slowly but surely. I keep sucking until he pulls his wrist away and I fall into unconsciousness.

-End Chapter 13-

Sorry to end it there but hey, that's how it goes. This really took forever to write and I sorry about the delay. Thanks so much for reading! Please review!


	14. Chapter 14

Sorry for taking so long. I've been focusing on Photograph and got a little caught up. Sorry.. but here's the next chapter!

-Chapter 14-

Tsuzuki awoke with a start and looked around frantically. He couldn't seem to remember where he was and his head as killing him. And Hisoka... Hisoka...

"Tsuzuki?" He heard and turned towards the sound of the voice.

"Nariko?" he asked.

"You alright? You were screaming and finally woke up. Here." He said as she handed him a glass of something. Tsuzuki took it and drank it, not really paying attention to what it was. He then spit it out.

"What the hell is this!" he cried out.

"Blood" Nariko replied.

Tsuzuki through the cup away in disgust. "I can't drink that." he said.

"Correction you can and have to, you're a vampire now remember. It comes with the territory. Now what's wrong?" Nariko asked.

Tsuzuki didn't answer. He looked down and watched the blood spread out along the concrete floor.

"Tsuzuki!"

"What?"

"What the hell has gotten into you?"

"Nothing."

"Of course it's something. What the hell happened while you were asleep?"

"I saw Hisoka..."

"No big surprise there, so what happened?"

Tsuzuki didn't answer.

"Tsuzuki you have to tell me or things are never going to get anywhere. If it was a normal dream I wouldn't say anything, but I know better, something is wrong and you're going to tell me what it is."

"I saw Hisoka... and Kiyoshi..."

"What!"

"They were in my dream. Kiyoshi took Hisoka and then told me to tell you something..." Tsuzuki trailed off.

"What did he tell you?"

"That he... will be waiting..."

"Shit!" Nariko cried.

"What?" Tsuzuki asked, confused.

"He knows we're coming. Shit! And that means he will be prepared for us. I was hoping that we'd have the element of surprise but now...Shit! Shit! Shit!"

"We can still fight him though, right? We have to, don't we?" Tsuzuki said.

"Yes, we will fight but things have gotten more complicated..."

"How so?"

"He knows we're coming and it's pretty much been confirmed that Hisoka will be changed."

"What!!!" Tsuzuki cried, jumping up from the bed he was lying on.

"Tsuzuki sit down. You shouldn't move too much just yet." Nariko said, pushing him so he was sitting down.

"Are you serious?"

"Unfortunately... yes..."

Tsuzuki was silent.

"I have a question for you Tsuzuki" Nariko said after a moment.

"What?"

"Will you be able to fight Hisoka?"

"What!!!"

"I'm serious. Will you?"

"No... I can't..."

"Then you aren't coming with us." Nariko said.

"Why..."

"Because you may have to fight him and I can't afford to have anyone not be fighting their hardest. There's a reason why Kiyoshi is feared. I need to know that you will be able to fight and train your hardest. I'm not asking you to kill him or anything, just to fight. He won't be himself, Kiyoshi will insure that. So will you?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"You always have a choice." Nariko replied.

Tsuzuki was quiet for a moment. "Yes." he answered.

"Alright then. Let's begin you're training." Nariko said going and standing up, leaving the room.

Tsuzuki got up and walked over to the mirror on the other side of the room. He looked at himself, in all honestly there wasn't that much of a difference. His skin was a little lighter, and his eyes were darker, that and he noticed two long canines protruding from his mouth. He opened his mouth to inspect them. The door opened and Nariko reentered. Tsuzuki unconsciously closed his mouth and regretted it as his lip began to bleed.

"Tsuzuki?" Nariko said going and standing next to him. She quietly picked up the hand towel next to the sink and wiped away the blood.

"Relax Tsuzuki. Think about going inside yourself, about going inward." Nariko said.

Tsuzuki listened and did as he was told and after a moment he felt his teeth shifting, as the canines retracted.

"Wow..." he said.

"And that's not the half of it. Now let's go." Nariko said, once again leaving the room, with Tsuzuki following.

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-At Kiyoshi's-

"How is he?" Kiyoshi asked, looking at Muraki.

"He has just awoken my lord and is calling for you." Muraki replied.

"Good. Then the transformation was a success. You may leave." Kiyoshi replied.

"Yes My Lord." Muraki said, bowing and leaving.

Kiyoshi looked up at the ceiling with a smile on his usually expressionless face.

"This is going to be interesting..."

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-Nariko's Training place-

"Please remind me why we are in the middle of the woods?" Tsuzuki said.

After waking up and telling Nariko about his dream, they had quickly left for "training" as Nariko said. Tsuzuki didn't even have a chance to talk to Tatsumi and Watari before he was teleported out of the building.

"I'm looking for my old training grounds." Nariko said as they continued walking.

"So you trained here?" Tsuzuki asked.

"Yes. My Lord brought me here to teach me how to control my abilities." Nariko said, not elaborating further.

"What abilities?" Tsuzuki asked, curious. It was then that he realized that even though he had been working with this vampire and was changed by her, he didn't actually know what her powers were.

"Oh! I never did tell you did I?" Nariko said, stopping to think.

"You didn't and what exactly do you mean by powers? Don't all vampires have the same abilities?"

"Not exactly... You better sit down while I explain things." Nariko said. Tsuzuki simply sat down in the grass, it's not like there was a chair there or anything.

"For you to understand my abilities along with my siblings, you need to know about my Lord. He was one of the most powerful vampires to come into existence, and ruled all the vampires for thousands of years."

"Wow... That's a really long time... How could he be that powerful to keep power for so long?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I'm getting there. Let me finish."

"Oh! Sorry!"

"Alright... where was I... oh, right... he was in power for so long because of his immense power. He was able to control all ten elements- darkness, light, fire, water, wind, ice, lightening, earth, plants, and metal."

"Holy Crap!" Tsuzuki interrupted.

"I know... but he eventually relinquished his power. Soon after he changed Kiyoshi, myself, and Kisho, endowing us with certain abilities, before he disappeared."

"How could he just disappear?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I don't know. I guess without his powers he was able to blend in... no one has seen him for hundreds of years... But anyway. He changed each of us because he believed that we would be able to control his powers. There's a difference between having a power and being able to use it."

"So what powers did you get?" Tsuzuki asked.

"I control water, wind, ice and light. Kiyoshi controls darkness, fire and lightening, while Kisho controls earth, plants, and metal."

"So shouldn't you be the strongest? Since you have the most powers?"

"I should, but you see there's a problem..."

"What?"

"While Kisho and Kiyoshi can completely control all their powers, I cannot."

"Why not?"

"I'm not sure. There's one power that even My Lord couldn't completely control..."

"Which one?"

"Light."

"Light?"

"Yes. For some reason it's the hardest to completely control. I can use it, don't get me wrong, but not to its full potential. That's were you come in..."

"Me? How?"

"My powers could leave me whenever I change someone, but only if that person is more suited to control it. Light apparently thought you were a better wielder so it went to you when I changed you."

"Why me? I don't understand..." Tsuzuki said confused. Why had a power like light chosen him?

"My Lord said that no vampire he had ever met was pure or innocent enough to wield Light, I was the closest, but you are better than me. You are more pure and innocent, so it chose you Tsuzuki."

"But I'm not innocent... I killed people...I've done things..." Tsuzuki said sadly.

"We all have Tsuzuki, not just you. But it's resistance to bloodshed and evil that Light must have seen. It's your innocence at heart and love for others over yourself. I could never feel that way, not even close except for Damian, but even then nothing near what you feel. It's the person that you fight to be that Light saw. That's why I believe it chose you."

"I don't understand this." Tsuzuki said, shaking his head, as if trying to clear it.

"You don't have to all you need to do is figure out how to master it." Nariko replied, resuming her walk.

Tsuzuki got up to follow. They walked in silence, neither looking at each other, until Nariko suddenly stopped.

"We're here." she said.

Tsuzuki looked around in awe of the place. It was beautiful. There was a small waterfall that cascaded into a pool of crystal clear water. There was a clearing around the pool, and a row of trees surrounding the area. It was stunning and this is where they were going to train?

"It feels like I'm coming home." Nariko said with a smile.

"Wow..." Tsuzuki mumbled.

"Yea. I know. Now let's get to work." Nariko said, turning around so she was facing Tsuzuki.

Tsuzuki looked at her confused as she spread her arms.

"Umm... Nariko?"

Nariko closed her eyes as her arms began to move on their own. She opened them and the water from the pond shot at Tsuzuki.

"What the hell!"

-End chapter 14-

Sorry to end it like that but I have been putting off uploading this chapter long enough. Thanks for being patient. Thanks for reading and please review!


	15. Chapter 15

Hello! I'm back! Sorry it took so long I had a slight mental block with this story. I might not be able to update soon but here is a chapter to help hold you over. Anyway... on with the story!

-Chapter 15-

Tsuzuki jumped out of the way and barely missed being crushed by a column of water.

"What the hell!" He yelled.

"Fight back Tsuzuki." Nariko said as she brought forth another column.

Tsuzuki jumped out of the way. He had no idea how he was going to fight a column of water. Nariko did say that he controlled light, but that doesn't mean he knew how to use it.

"I can't!" Tsuzuki yelled, as he dodged another column of water.

Nariko sighed. "Yes you can. Focus" as she shot another column out at Tsuzuki. Tsuzuki got nicked by this one and was now bleeding a little in his left arm.

Nariko stopped for a moment. "Tsuzuki you have to fight me. I know you can, just let it out. Let it all out." she said as she continued attacking.

Tsuzuki thought was he was dodging. If she wanted him to fight he would. Right? He closed his eyes as he pushed off from a tree at Nariko. He opened them as a white light shown around him.

Nariko was pushed back as Tsuzuki used a little of his power.

"That's it Tsuzuki, now come on." she said as she charged at him.

The two went at it for hours, and slowly, very slowly, Tsuzuki began to call more and more on light.

It was when Tsuzuki collapsed from exhaustion that Nariko decided it was time to stop.

"Let's head back. We'll be back out here tomorrow so it wouldn't do us any good if you got too tired." she said.

"Alright." Tsuzuki replied, as Nariko teleported them back to her place.

They arrived in the living room to a crowd of people.

"What's going on?" Nariko asked, leaving Tsuzuki, as she made her way through the room. She recognized every face there but still- why was everyone in her house?

She found Tatsumi, who was holding a clip board.

"Tatsumi what are all these vampires doing here?" she asked.

"You said you were summoning your fledglings so here they are. They began arriving a few hours ago and to be perfectly honest- I have no idea what to do with them." Tatsumi replied, obviously stressed.

"Alright, give a moment." Nariko said, walking over and grabbing a chair from her table. She stood up on it and yelled "HEY!" All the vampires stopped and looked at her. They dropped to their knees, bowing.

Tsuzuki and Tatsumi were the only ones standing, since Damian, Ryu, and Watari weren't in the room at this time.

"You know you don't have to do that." Nariko said with a sigh, as she saw all her fledglings bowing. "Now stand up, all of you." she said, and everyone stood.

"Thank you all for coming. I really appreciate it. Now as you all know I have decided to enter the battle. I know many of you are wondering why I would decide to do this so late, but I have reasons. You all know my brother Kiyoshi..." Nariko said.

There were mummers confirming that.

"He has recently taken two guardians of death hostage." Nariko started.

"So?" one of the fledglings asked. "We aren't exactly friends with the guardians so what does that have to do with us?"

"I'm getting to that. You see one is an empath and the other is a psychic- for lack of a better word. He has most likely changed both of them. Also, Kiyoshi has started to change more and more humans to fight in his army. I think you all can understand the seriousness of this situation. There aren't that many vampires that can hold their own against Kiyoshi, so I've decided to fight." Nariko said.

"We all know how powerful you are Nariko-san, but still, we're greatly outnumbered, you haven't changed that many people over the years." someone said.

"It's true that I don't have as many fledglings, but I have convinced my brother Kisho to fight under me- that should help greatly. Besides we all know I didn't change weaklings.Kiyoshi may have a lot of vampires under him but they're weak. He's not selective." Nariko said with a smirk.

There were laughs among the vampires.

"Who's that?" a female vampire said- pointing at Tsuzuki.

"Oh! I almost forgot- get up here you!" Nariko said to Tsuzuki.

Tsuzuki slowly made his way over- ignoring the glares he was receiving. He came and stood beside Nariko, that's when the yelling began...

"What's going on!!!"

"What have you done!!!"

"He's a guardian!!!!!"

"This isn't good- what's going to happen now!!!"

"QUIET!!" Nariko yelled and the room fell silent once again.

"Thank you. This is Asato Tsuzuki. His partner was one of the ones taken- the empath to be specific. He's going to help us, along with a few other guardians."

There were mummers of disapproval.

"Hey!!!" someone yelled- it was Damian and Ryu. They made their way over to Nariko.

"This is a good man you are talking about-A friend of ours. All he wants is to get his partner back." Damian said, glaring at some of the vampires.

"You should all show him some respect because he's fighting with you, for you. He doesn't want Kiyoshi to win either and is willing to do what ever it takes to do that." Ryu said.

"What has he done to prove that he is loyal to you?" a man asked. It was a common question for a vampire to ask, how else would they know they could trust him?

"I changed him." Nariko said. There was a silence. "I changed him so that he would be powerful enough to fight against Kiyoshi, actually he's stronger than most of you considering he's the most powerful guardian of death." Nariko said with a smile. No one spoke.

"So... now that that's settled. Tatsumi-san, the slightly scary looking man with glasses, will show you all were you will be staying. I want you to treat all the guardians with respect because were all fighting the same enemy here. Alright?" Nariko asked.

"Alright." everyone replied.

"Nariko? Can I say something?" Tsuzuki asked quietly.

"Of course Tsuzuki." she replied, letting Tsuzuki take the chair to stand on.

"Hello everyone. I know you may not trust me and probably don't really care at all about what I'm going to say but I'll say it anyway. Kiyoshi took someone very important to me- not only that he changed him so I'm going to have to fight against him. I'm one of you now, by choice. I wanted to do this so I could give this all I have. I'm fighting for him, but also for all of you. Nariko has told me about her fledglings and how you are different from the other vampires- how you don't kill and are truly good people. I'm still new to all of this, but I think that she would be the best leader of the vampires. I think she could do the best job and really protect your kind. I swear I will not tell anyone about you- any of you... That and I want to thank you for letting me fight this battle with you all. I promise I will do the best I can." Tsuzuki said.

Everyone was silent... no one knew what to say. It was Nariko that spoke.

"Thank you Tsuzuki. That really means a lot to me to know that."

"It's the truth." Tsuzuki replied with a shrug. He got off the chair and walked into the crowd. The crowd slowly parted, letting Tsuzuki pass, but he wasn't looking at them. He stopped at the door and turned around, looking at a group of now kneeling vampires. He smiled and left.

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"Damn he's good." Damian said as Tatsumi took the vampires out of the room. Nariko controlled the whole hotel so that's where most of the vampires would be staying.

"He is. I didn't expect that at all." Nariko replied, sitting down next to Damian.

"How'd training go?" he asked.

"He's good. There's no doubt in my mind that he'll be ready." Nariko replied.

"That's good to know. You doing alright? I now that takes a lot out of you?"

"I'm fine. It's Tsuzuki we need to keep an eye on. Any news about Kiyoshi?" Nariko asked, lying down, her head in Damian's lap. Damian smiled before responding.

"Twelve more people vanished today in the city, not to mention the twenty in the country side."

"Damn... he's still changing them. More vampires to send to the slaughter I suppose. He's really going all out."

"He is. Do you think we'll be ready?"

"I don't know Damian. But I hope so."

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-At Kiyoshi's-

"Now listen all of you! I have an announcement to make!" Kiyoshi yelled from atop the stage he was standing on.

The audience, which was made up of his fledglings, went silent.

"Good. Let me introduce you to a few new... friends... of mine." he said with a smirk. He motioned with his hand and Muraki walked out onto the stage. He was dressed in a silver and red kimono, and looked out at the audience with obvious pleasure. He bowed and said hello before falling into place, slightly behind Kiyoshi.

"This is Muraki-sensei. He is one of my generals in the upcoming battle, treat him as so. He is very powerful and has permission to do anything he deems necessary to ensure victory in the upcoming battle." Kiyoshi explained. He waved his hand again and Kuri walked out onto the stage. She was wearing a blue and gold kimono and didn't even bother to look out at the vampires as she made her way over to Kiyoshi.

"This dear girl is Kuri. She is another one of my generals and will be performing screenings of each of you to ensure that you're loyal to me and willing to fight your hardest. It is merely a necessity at a time like this. I'm sure you all won't object to it." Kiyoshi said.

"And last but not least." he said and motioned with his hand. Hisoka stepped out onto the stage wearing a black and green kimono. He walked over to Kiyoshi, who put his arms around the boy. Kiyoshi smiled.

"This is my boy." he said as he licked Hisoka's cheek. "He is also a general and will be leading the front line. He's an empath so be careful. He is also mine so hands off to anyone of you who are thinking about him. Actually Kuri send pain to anyone who is thinking about Hisoka in a rather... unacceptable way."

Kuri raised her hand and many of the vampires grabbed onto their heads in pain.

Kiyoshi smiled and motioned for Kuri to stop, she did. The vampires whose heads were throbbing stopped.

"Now you may be wondering why I'm doing all of this but as of today my sister Nariko has decided to join the battle. Granted she's not as powerful as me but I can't help but see her as a threat. One that must be dealt with properly."

There were nods of understanding.

"I need all of you to fight your hardest because I'm not going to loose this battle. These vampires will help to ensure that but I need each and everyone one of you to fight as well. We are the largest vampire army there is so we must use that to our advantage. THIS TIME I SHALL WIN!" Kiyoshi cried as the room erupted in approval.

"I WILL NOT LET ANYONE STOP ME!"

-End chapter 15-

Sorry it took me so long to update. I've been having a hard time with this chapter. Thanks for waiting. Please review!!! Please!!!


	16. Chapter 16

Hello again! This chapter is going to be a bunch if random moments that occur over the three days before going into battle- or the attack. I hope this makes sense because it was hard to write but I figured you all wanted to get to the action soon so I'm speeding things up a bit.

Disclaimer: I still don't own them... I know it's sad...

-Chapter 16-

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"Umm... Tatsumi what are you doing?" Watari asked.

"I'm working on a list of everyone that's here." Tatsumi replied, writing down another name.

"Okay. So that's why all the vampires are in line." Watari said.

"Yes Watari, now if you excuse me I have to finish." Tatsumi said, writing the next person's name down.

"Hey! You cut in front of me!" a woman yelled.

"Yea. So what are you going to do about it?" the man asked smirking at the woman. The woman glared at him and went to grab him. She grabbed his shirt and threw him across the room, hitting the wall. She then simply moved forward and no one said anything. Watari and Tatsumi and Watari looked at each other. Both realizing they better not piss them off.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Awww... Tsuzuki-san! You can't go around wearing that. But don't worry we can help!" two girls that seemed very similar to Saya and Yuma said.

Tsuzuki backed away from the two girls named Arashi and Azumi.

"You can't wear that! It's too ... What's the word I'm looking for?" Azumi asked Arashi.

"Too... Dark I think is the word you're looking for." Arashi replied.

"Yes Dark! You're of us so you need to look the part, especially since there are so many vampires here." Azumi said.

"But Nariko said that vampires try to blend in and are dark, so what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Tsuzuki asked as he was backed into a corner.

"A black trench coat- hardly a fashion statement, but don't worry you're in good hands." Arashi said.

"Help me!"

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"Tsuzuki it's time for more lessons." Nariko said, trying to find Tsuzuki in the mass of people.

"Nariko- san. I thought I saw him go into that room with Arashi and Azumi." a man said.

"Oh crap! Thanks!" she replied before rushing over to the room. She threw the door open and was greeted by quite a sight.

"Tsuzuki... you look good..." Nariko said astonished.

"I told you we do good work. See nothing to worry about Tsuzuki-san." Azumi said.

Tsuzuki just stood there. He was wearing black jeans, that sat rather low. His shirt was a red and black T-shirt, very simple except it was ripped around the sleeves and bottom and was rather tight, showing off his well built body. He had on a pair of black shoes, that matched the shirt- basically a big upgrade.

"I'm not sure about this." Tsuzuki said a little embarrassed.

"Well then let's get some other people's opinions." Arashi said, walking over to the door. "hey girls- hot man in black this way!" she yelled.

Nariko could only laugh.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm tired." Tsuzuki said, as he laid on his bed. He had just finished training with Nariko.

"Tsuzuki!" he heard someone yell.

Tsuzuki didn't reply, he was too tired to care. He didn't even notice when Watari snuck into his room. Watari stood there before jumping on him.

"Watari! What the hell!" Tsuzuki yelled in surprise.

"You didn't answer." Watari replied.

"So you jump me?"

"Yea."

Tsuzuki just sighed. "What did you want anyway?"

"Well... me and some of the guys were gonna have some drinks- want to join us?" Watari asked.

"I'm too tired Watari, go away." Tsuzuki sad, lying back down.

"It's free and Tatsumi said he'd join us." Watari said.

"what are we waiting for then! Let's go!" Tsuzuki said, jumping up and dragging Watari out of the room.

-A little later-

"Why did I let them do this?" Nariko asked herself as she watched the group of drunks try and sing some song- they were so out it she couldn't identify it.

"Because you wanted them to have some fun before we go to battle." Damian said, going and putting an arm around her waist, pulling her closer.

"I guess. But now I'm going to have to deal with a bunch of hung over vampires and guardians. I can already feel the headache coming." Nariko said, bringing her hand to her head.

"Nariko- that's Tsuzuki's singing." Damian replied with a smile.

"Oh! I guess that makes sense." Nariko said with a smile.

"Well... since they seem to be having a good time, why don't we." Damian said, leaning down and bitting on Nariko's neck.

"Sounds good to me." Nariko replied, turning to fully kiss Damian.

Needless to say everyone had a good night.

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"How are the two doing?" Kiyoshi asked Muraki as he came into the room.

"There's both sleeping as you instructed." Muraki replied.

"Good. There's not much time left and I can't afford to let them get too tired."

"Of course master. Is there anything you want me to do for you before I retire as well?" Muraki asked.

"No. I believe everything is in place. By tomorrow the rest of the army should have arrived, so I'll need you there to greet them all." Kiyoshi said, leaning back in his chair.

"Of course master." Muraki said as he turned to leave the room.

'We're almost ready...' Kiyoshi thought before going back to work.

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"Nariko! I'm ready for my training now!" Tsuzuki called as he searched the house for Nariko. He came to a bedroom and knocked on the door- no response. He opened to door...

"Oh CRAP!" Tsuzuki yelled as he slammed the door shut. Tsuzuki backed up and walked away, even as Nariko came out, covered by a towel, he kept walking, he had been scared.

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"Damn this contraption!" Watari cursed as he was shut out of the computer once again.

"I don't know how this is happening- since I was working on this yesterday just fine- but damn it!"

There was a rustling behind him. Watari turned around and was greeted by the sight of a young girl.

"Well Hello there. This is no place for you to be playing." Watari said calmly.

"Don't patronize me!" the girl yelled. "I'm two hundred years old and I'll do whatever the hell I please!" she said storming off.

Watari was stunned as he noticed the fangs in the girls mouth- wow he must have partied too much last night to forget he was in a vampire's house.

"MOMMY! This man over here was mean to me!" Watari heard the young girl cry.

"Oh really.." he heard in response.

"I'm so screwed..."

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Tatsumi was sitting reading an article Damian had given him about vampires, it was written by a vampire so it was pretty accurate. A woman came over and sat down near him. Tatsumi ignored her but eventually had enough of her starting at him and looked up at her.

She was rather beautiful. She has long blond hair, that goes down to her waist. She was petite, but looked muscular. Her eyes were a piercing blue that reminded Tatsumi of his own.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"I was just wondering what you thought of that article you're reading." she replied.

"it's interesting." Tatsumi replied, really not in the mood to talk to some random woman.

"Care to elaborate?" she asked, moving closer to him.

"Well- The hierarchy system is very interesting- I did not realize it was complex, that and the changing process itself. As well as the responsibilities of the vampire 'parent'." he replied a little nervous of this woman.

Tatsumi looked away from her, back down at the article. He almost jumped when he felt a hand on his leg.

"Is there anything else you find interesting..." the woman purred.

Tatsumi didn't know what to say, but looked up as he heard someone enter the room.

"Tatsumi. Nariko needs to see you about... some... thing... what's that woman's hand doing on your thigh?" Watari asked, stunned as he entered the room.

"Nothing." Tatsumi said quickly, standing up and moving away from the woman. The woman looked over at Watari and glared, Watari in turn glared right back until he noticed that he had seen this woman.

"Tatsumi run..." Watari mumbled as he ran out of the room. Tatsumi didn't get a chance to respond before he was drug out of the room.

All they heard was a woman screaming "You're the one who was mean to my daughter!!!"

"care to elaborate?" Tatsumi asked as they ran.

"long story..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Everyone gather around."Nariko said, standing on the table.

Everyone included EVERYONE and that's a lot of people in a room. She waited for them to quiet down before she started speaking.

"Alright. I wanted to announce that tomorrow we will begin the attack. For those of you that have been helping me come up with a strategy I thank you. It's been difficult these past few days preparing; no one knew we were going to war only a few days ago. I'm not going to lie, we're not at our best, but we're pretty damn close. And considering the circumstances, I'm amazed by how far we have come in such a short time. That's because of all your hard work. We're strong, but Kiyoshi is not a force to be taken lightly, we're going to have to fight with everything we've got to make it out alive. Kisho will be arriving shortly with his men, who will be under my command as well, but Kisho will not be fighting with us. We all have to work together for this to work and everyone has to do their part. I'm counting on all of you." Nariko said.

There was cheering following her speech but she didn't wait to hear what everyone had to say, she had someone to meet...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Is everything ready?" Kiyoshi asked Muraki.

"Yes master. The army in ready and awaits your command." Muraki replied.

"Good, very good."

"Master I must ask why we are not going to begin the attack?" Muraki asked.

Kiyoshi smirked. " I know my sister. She's already planned an attack so why not let her go ahead and attack."

Muraki didn't understand Kiyoshi's logic in this situation but it wasn't his place to question him, at least not yet. No. He would have to be patient and wait for his time. But his time would come...

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"you know he's waiting for you." Kisho said.

"I know." Nariko replied.

"Then why go through with this Nariko? It's suicide and you know it!"

"I don't know that and I have to try. I can't let Kiyoshi become the leader, I just can't let that happen. It would be disastrous. Besides we have a decent shot at this." Nariko replied with a smile.

"You honestly believe that?"

"I have to. If I don't who will."

"You're a fool."

"Maybe..."

"Just don't die out there... You are my sister."

"Thanks. I don't plan on it." Nariko said with a smirk.

"Good." Kisho replied, turning to leave. 'Because you guys are our only hope..' he thought as he left.

Damian came outside to join Nariko. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her.

"You should be resting." he said.

"I'll be in shortly." she replied, looking up at the near full moon.

"I'll wait then. Some one needs to take care of you. How would it look if our leader was tired tomorrow and know it wasn't because of me." Damian said, kissing Nariko's cheek lightly.

"yea... yea... Fine. Let's go get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us." Nariko said with a sigh.

"yes we do." Damian replied as they went in.

The moon is almost full- tomorrow is the night and the battle will begin.

-End Chapter 16-

That's it for now. Sorry about how long it's taking but things have been crazy. Thanks for reading and please review! the battle begins in the next chapter.


	17. Chapter 17

Hey everyone! Sorry that I seem to have disappeared. Life is beyond busy and I'm not even sure when I'll be able to update again, so please forgive me. I now have a new beta tho! YAY! **yaoivampire**- thanks for being willing to work with me. So here's the next chapter:

Nariko was the first to wake. She carefully slipped out of bed and went out on the balcony. The sun had yet to rise and she decided to wait for the approaching dawn, perhaps the last dawn she may ever see.

'Why the hell did I end up getting dragged into this? I must be crazy. Changing guardians of death… working with Kisho… giving away my power of light… I really must be crazy…'

The first glimpses of the sun appear on the horizon.

'If this goes badly then we are all doomed. Not just the vampire race but also the human race. The balance will be destroyed and chaos will reign under Kiyoshi's hand. I cannot let that happen. I did not intend to get involved but if I don't then who will. I just hope that this will work, that things will work out, but honestly when do things?

"You're thinking too much"

Nariko was brought out of her thoughts as arms slipped around her waist. She leaned back into Damian's embrace.

"Maybe…" she replied, and felt a warm rumble in the man's chest behind

her.

"We have a visitor." He said.

"Bring Tsuzuki out here then."

"How did you…?"

"Who else would it be?"

"Very true." Damian responded before he kissed her and went to get the door. Tsuzuki entered and followed Damian out onto the balcony.

"Tsuzuki. What are you doing up this early?" Nariko asked.

"Just worried I suppose." he replied, watching the sun fully rise.

"There's no reason to be worried, I think we have a good chance against

Kiyoshi. And…"

"Do you honestly think that?" he interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Nariko asked, not at all surprised that Tsuzuki picked up on the doubt she was feeling.

"I know that you are worried, we all are. I know that this is not going to be easy…"

"That's where you are wrong Tsuzuki, this is going to be hell." Nariko interrupted.

Tsuzuki looked at Nariko comma here the worry, desperation, and fear evident in his eyes.

"Tsuzuki… This going to be one of the hardest things we will ever have to do, if not the hardest. I don't know if any of us will even survive to see tomorrow, The battle begins at night fall, and when the sun rises we stop. It's part of the rules of the battle. We fight only at night and on the sacred ground, nowhere else. No weapons, only hand to hand combat."

"And where is that?" Tsuzuki asked.

"It's an island that no man can see in the Atlantic Period here" she replied.

"You have to be kidding me. That sounds crazy!" Tsuzuki said.

"As crazy as the fact that there are vampires and you are in the middle of a their war?" Damian asked.

"No… I guess not…" Tsuzuki conceded.

"You should go and get ready Tsuzuki. Begin waking the others up, we must travel to the island ."

The sun was just rising, the day was beginning, but it was the night they should fear.

The day had been hectic and tense; even the normal arguing was less today. Everyone was too lost in thought over what was about to happen, to think about anything else. Tatsumi, who was having so much trouble with everyone the day before, was more nervous that everyone was abnormally calm now. The atmosphere was almost tangible and he was worried. More and more vampires were arriving, so he was kept occupied though out the day.

Watari was busy checking over the vampires, to make sure they were in top physical condition. The task was long and arborous, but it had to be done, and it was his way to contribute.

Tsuzuki went out for one last training session with Nariko, then came back to rest up before everyone headed out. He had never been so nervous. He was currently sitting in on the balcony, Nariko let him go out there to relax and think. And he did have a lot to think about. Hisoka… That was his primary focus. What was happening to him? What was going to happen? Would he really have to fight the person who is his world? How was he going to do this ? He had no idea but he had to think of something soon…

"It's time to go." Nariko said, as she emerged from her room.

Everyone exchanged looks.

"You know where we are going. Every vampire does and I expect all of you to be able to teleport there without incident. If you are not sure as to where the battle is held, or are not yet able to teleport, find someone who does and go with them. The guardians have been told where the battle will be held and they will be coming back and forth to bring more people. Now I will see you all there." She said as she went to change into her battle attire and teleport herself.

And so everyone began to teleport out to the battlefield. There were only a few hours left until nightfall.

Tsuzuki, Tatsumi, and Watari had finally finished teleporting everyone, with the help of some of the older vampires, of course, but it was still a difficult job. They now had a chance to see where this battle would be taking place. They looked around and noticed it was a mostly empty field; but there were scattered clumps of trees in the field period here The field wasn't flat either, there were four small hills, leading down to the center

"You all are getting familiar with the field, taking in the field, that's good." Nariko said.

The three turned around and noticed that Nariko was now riding a horse.

"Um… What's with the horse?" Watari asked.

"Oh, this? It's part of the rules of engagement. Each master must ride a horse to the center clump of trees." Nariko said and pointed at the clump in the direct center of the small valley. "There, each master must present themselves so that it is known how many are participating in the battle. From there, the rules, and what must be done to win the battle are explained After that is over, there is normally discussion. Then we are dismissed and have an hour before the fighting starts."

"Wow. This is really complicated…" Tsuzuki said.

"You don't know the half of it." Nariko said with a small smile. She looked up from them and out onto the field with an almost wistful look in her eyes.

"You've fought here before, haven't you?" Watari asked, noticing the way she was looking at the field.

"Yes. I once fought here, but that was a long time ago…" She said, trailing off.

Everyone just took a moment to look out at the place where so much death and destruction was about to occur. The once green grass and gentle slopes would soon be coated in blood and bodies as the battle continued on. It was then that they noticed the others gathering on the tops of each hill.

"So we aren't the only ones going against Kiyoshi." Tatsumi said.

"No, but he's not the only one going against us." Nariko replied.

"Is there anything we can do about that? Could you reason with the other masters and see if they are willing to destroy Kiyoshi first, then focus on each other?" Watari asked.

"I don't know. I suppose I can try, but it's doubtful. No one trusts each other and would never be willing to risk the battle." Nariko stated.

"Oh…" Watari mumbled in response.

Suddenly three horses appeared and galloped towards the trees.

"I suppose that's my cue. Keep a look out for Kisho and the rest of his men. I'm doubtful that Kisho will show, but I know he has more men than he has sent and ask for identification, the last thing we need is a spy." Nariko said as she rode down to meet the others.

"Alright. You heard her. Let's get to work." Tatsumi said as the three split.

At the center

"All of you understand the rules, correct?" The director said. All four vampire masters nodded.

"Good. Now is there anything that needs to be said?" The director asked.

"I would like to say something sir." Nariko said.

"Then speak." He replied.

Nariko looked away from Kiyoshi's piercing stare and crooked smile. "I ask you to hear me out." She said to the other masters; after they nodded she continued. " I ask you for a favor, one that I know you will be against, but please just listen. I ask for your help in fighting my brother Kiyoshi. He is strong and I do not know if I can defeat him by myself, but if you both worked with me, I have no doubts we could defeat him."

"Why would I do that?" the one vampire master asked.

"I agree. What use would that do for me?" the other asked.

"You would be down one enemy and I would drop out after we defeated him, if you helped me. That would leave only you two to fight. Makes life easier on you two." Nariko responded.

"Is that against the rules?" Kiyoshi asked the director, getting angry.

"There is no rule against it, but it is looked down upon, since the battle is to pit master against master " The director explained.

Kiyoshi glared at Nariko, who had a small smile on her face, but it was too early to get her hopes up.

"I have a question for you." The first vampire master asked.

"Go ahead" she replied.

"Why do you want to defeat your own brother?"

"Because I believe that if he came into power it would mean the destruction of the vampire race and human race, and I cannot let that happen. I would rather have anyone be in power other than him and his men. All I ask is for you to help me make sure he doesn't destroy us." Nariko pleaded.

There was laughter.

The three looked over at Kiyoshi, who was cackling.

"What!" Nariko demanded.

Kiyoshi looked at Nariko and stopped laughing but the crooked smile remained.

"You are so naïve Nariko, to think that even if you work with those two weaklings that you would stand a chance against me. There is nothing you or anyone else can do, I will kill you all and rule over the vampires."

"I'll never let that happen!" Nariko cried.

Kiyoshi only laughed as he turned and rode off, leaving the other masters behind.

Nariko turned back to the others. "So what do you say?"

"I'll do it. My men all have red cloths on their arms, to keep them from confusing each other with the enemy, so do not attack them." The first said.

"I will as well. Mine all wear black shirts with a gold stripe down them." The second master said.

"Thank you for this. Mine all wear blue cloths around their necks. And now that that's settled I suppose I will be joining you two in battle in less than an hour." Nariko said.

"Yes." The first replied and took off, shortly followed by the second. Nariko then turned and raced back to her own army, feeling a little more hopeful than she had felt in days.

-End Chapter-

Thanks for reading and please review!


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